Persona Powers Hetalia
by Mitsuki Horenake
Summary: It all began with a simple acceptance into Gakuen Hetalia for Charice and Rizal Pacuquiao. But for the poor Philippines Twins, there's a lot more going on than meets the eye. OCs galore and some swearing, so proceed with caution. No, seriously, proceed with caution. It's filled with crack and humor ;D
1. Welcome to Gakuen Hetalia!

**Yes, it's another series! It's going to be an extremely long one too **_**(maybe even longer than my Tales…maybe)**_**. It's my Persona 4 x Hetalia cross. Albeit there is another one out there called "Reach Out" by genericnamehere. Yes, I'm typing this until they update :D**

**For those of you who were wondering about the survey in the beginning, yes this associates here. And yes, I am putting my Philippines OC in there. Since everyone voted for the girl, Charice is the main character~! Relax, Rizal is going to be in here. Really.**

**So anyway…let's begin.**

**/=+=/**

"So we're going to a school for countries?"

"Yeah. A lot of them were recommending that we have to go there in order to basic human knowledge of the 21st Century." Rizal looked up to her as they were being driven in a car. "On the bright side, all the other countries are going to be there."

"_**ALL **_the countries? Like…past us and Korea?"

"Yes, all of them." He smiled. "Don't worry. I heard that most of these countries aren't that scary."

_Sure, that's what I was worrying about._

Charice looked up from the car and realized that the building was now among them. They stepped out of the car and looked up at the beautiful campus among them, shining in the sunlight and eerily quiet. She looked around for a few minutes before she turned her head towards her younger brother, who was still somewhat interested in the building.

"…is it Saturday or something? There's no one here!"

"No, it's Monday. That's what my phone says." Rizal looked at it again. "Yeah, it's Monday. Maybe everyone's already inside?"

"Great, just what we needed: a lot of trouble just to get in here and now there's nothing here for us, not even a welcoming party!" She sighed. "Man, what is _**wrong**_ with these people? We don't even get a map of the area! How in the world are we supposed to get around here?"

"Well, if what I received in this letter was correct…we would have to go into the building and make a left." Rizal pulled out a letter and looked up. "There's supposed to be a list of countries there that takes us to our class…"

"Wait, _**there's a **__**LETTER**__** sent?"**_

"Yeah…I thought you got it, Charice."

"…no…"

"Haha…just follow me."

**/=+=/**

The inside of the building was enormous, to say the least. When Charice followed her brother through the lobby, he pointed out a list that seemed to mention a lot of countries. She was surprised at the size of a lot of these classes: the **Europe** class was freaking _**HUGE**_ _(like half the list is filled with these names)_, the **Africa** class wasn't that big, and she didn't even know what was going on with the **Australia** class _(THERE WERE ONLY __**THREE**__ FREAKING NAMES ON THE LIST)_. It was then that Rizal remarked on something.

"Ah, here we are." He pointed at the names. **"The Central and Outer Regions of the Republic of the Philippines.** We're in the **Asia** class."

"…we're Asian?" She blinked. "I always thought we're Pacific Islanders."

"We're Asian, Charice. Because we're close enough of the Asian continent to be part of that territory." Rizal answered. "I thought you knew this."

"Well, those two terms were hovering around my head for a while and I just got very confused for a few minutes…"

"Don't worry about it. Here's the class number." He pointed at it. "That's not that far from here. We can head over there."

Charice nodded and stared at the number for a few minutes before turning her head to follow her brother…and found out that he had already left to go to class and had accidentally left her alone. Since she had no idea what to do at this point, she decided that she was going to do the only thing that seemed plausible at the time…

She started screaming in panic for a few minutes, running around in circles.

And then she decided to wander the building.

_I'll probably find the class somehow._

**/=+=/**

Not a good idea.

She was mumbling some choice words to herself as she wandered the wide hallways of the building, trying to find her class. With a building as big as this, she figured that there would've been a vast amount of people loitering outside somehow.

_**WHERE THE HELL IS EVERYONE?**_

She was half expecting hearing at least someone yelling at each other or some form of country fight / war something, but oddly enough everything was dead silent. Before she knew it, she turned her head and saw a small tag that held her class number. She found herself chirping and throwing the door open.

_Yes! I found the class!_ She jumped in. _At least I won't be late! I hope kuya's going to be here!_

She pranced into the room with a chirp in her voice and realized that the room was empty…like _**dead**_ empty. The design of the room looked oddly enough like St. Patrick's Cathedral _(yes she looked this up in preparation of class)_ with a cross of Notre Dame, the blackboard and the layout of the chairs looking something similar to a college class.

_Now this is a classroom!_ She grinned as she ran up the stairs. _Wow, look at these chairs! They're so…foreign! Maybe this really is going to be a good day!_

She turned around and stared at the room from the highest part of the layout and found herself grinning even more. Chirping, she ran back down the stairs and felt the wind running through her hair. It was almost like running around her homeland…

And found herself crashing into a brick wall. _God dammit, Charice!_

Wait a minute…this isn't a wall.

She blinked and stood there for a few minutes, her fingertips touching what felt like cotton and body heat. Confused, she backed up and stared at what she had bumped into. Even with backing up, she knew that she bumped into a tall guy. And she meant _**A TALL GUY.**_ He was blond and had piercing blue eyes, and looked oddly confused at her presence. Seeing as how it was just another human being in the building, she did the only normal thing that most people would do in a situation like this…

She screamed bloody murder.

"Oh my god, life!" She screamed. "All right, that's good! Here I thought I everyone left us here without warning us!"

"Hm? You're a student? You don't look familiar…" The blond man blinked. "What's your name?"

"Of course! My name!" She folded her right arm behind her back and saluted him with her arm sticking straight up. "I am Philia, the Outer Regions of the Republic of the Philippines! My human identity is Charice Pacquiao, but any variation of it, such as Char and Rise will be allowed as well! That is all!"

"…OK…you do know that you're supposed to be in the **Asia** class." The man stated.

"Hah? B-but I'm in the **Asia** class." She lowered her hand. "I mean, the class number is just outside the room. Room A-098, East Wing."

"Yes, that's your class number…" He sighed. "But you're supposed to be in the West Wing, not here."

…

"_**HAAAAAAAAAAAH?"**_ She panicked. "W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-well then _**where the hell am I **__**NOW?**__**"**_

"You're in the **Europe **class…on the other side of the building." He answered.

…

"_**HAAAAAAAAAAAAH?**__** Oh bash me over the head with a jar full of honey!"**_ She screamed. _**"I'm going to be late! What the hell?"**_

Before he had a chance to say anything to her, she dashed the hell out the door. He had to admit, she runs pretty quickly. Maybe it's the Asian blood?

**/=+=/**

She found herself gasping for air once she finally found the door she was looking for: Room A-098, West Wing. She threw the door open and waddled herself in, so dizzy that she found herself not caring as she stumbled into the room and dropped into the nearest chair. She could barely tell that the layout looked similar to a college class, only that it seemed to be tatami based and looked completely Asian, as she collapsed into a chair and took a long, deep breath.

_God, that was crazy…_ She sighed. _Hope that guy didn't start thinking of making me a territory…god forbid what kuya would do to him…_

"Um…excuse me, aru…but-"

"God, please don't tell me that I'm in the wrong room!" She sighed, too exhausted to argue. "I just ran from the other side of the building! I'm supposed to be in the **Asia** wing, Room A-098, West Wing! If I'm in the North Wing or Room A-099 or something, tell me now!"

"Um…you're in the right room…you're just in my seat."

She looked up and saw a man standing right in front of her _(at least, she hoped it was a guy…it was the male uniform)_. He had long hair and didn't have the jacket, instead having a panda backpack on his back. It was then that she realized just what he meant.

"Oh, s-sorry…I was just tired…" She stood up. "Here you go."

"Thank you." He sat down in the chair. "Are you a new student here?"

"Y-yeah…I ended up in the East Wing by accident." She sighed, sinking into the chair next to him. "I ran like the wind, let me tell you."

"I can see that. You barely made the bell, aru." He stared at her. "A-are you willing to stand up again?"

"W-why…?"

"Cause you're in Li Xiao Chun's seat."

She blinked in confusion as she stood up and looked around, barely seeing the other students coming in with their uniforms and getting ready for class. She couldn't see her brother, but she did see someone that looked like a Li Xiao Chun. He had short black hair and thick eyebrows, which was weird for Asian countries last time she checked. He opened his eyes to get to his seat, and she saw light brown eyes looking around the room. What country was he…?

"Your breasts belong to **ME,** da ze!"

She felt a small force in her back before something grabbed her boobs, causing her to scream yet again. She turned her head and saw a man with a strange curl _(with a smiley face on it, mind you!)_ groping her down. After a few minutes, he paused and started feeling her up.

"Aw…are you sure you're a girl? Cause there's nothing here, da ze…"

"_**BITCH**__** I oughta-"**_

When Rizal finally got into the room, he was greeted with the image of his older sister pounding the ever-living hell out of a sixteen year old boy. He quickly pulled her out of it, seeing her fuming rapidly toward the other man and freaked him out a little bit.

"Charice, what are you doing?"

"_**Son of a bitch felt me up!"**_

"Oh…OK." He grinned. "I'll handle him later…don't worry…"

He had the evil grin on his face, so she knew what he meant. After a few minutes of everyone freaking out, the bell rang out, stating that the school was now in session. Charice quickly sat in her chair _(it was stated on the desk by the extremely red part of the Philippines flag on the upper left corner of her desk)_ as she sighed. She looked up from collapsing and saw that another man sat next to her. He had short hair, and from the symbol on his desk was a simple country _(why does it only have a red dot?)._

"Um…hi?"

"Hello." He bowed in his seat. "I believe that this is the first time we met?"

"Either that or we're both having major memory loss." She sat up. "I'm half of the Philippines, but you can call me Charice."

"I am the Republic of Nihon, but everyone calls me Japan." He bowed a little. "But you can call me Kiku."

_Huh…he sounds familiar… _"…you have a nicer name than I do…"

"I'm…sorry?"

"Nah, it's fine. I'm just saying that you have a nice name." She looked up. "So…what do we learn here, anyway?"

"You'd be surprised…"

**/= [ONE LONG SECTION LATER…] =/**

"_**AUGH**_ am I still alive…?"

"Heh heh, you are. Don't worry." Kiku chuckled. "In fact, it's already lunch time."

"Oh, is it?" She sighed. "I guess I'll go eat lunch with kuya-"

"Your brother? But he's not here."

She looked up and _**GOD DAMMIT**_ he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Kiku couldn't help but laugh at Charice's stressing look on her face before standing up, catching her interest.

"Well, if you do not mind…perhaps you would like to eat lunch with me?"

"…sure~!" She stood up. "Lead the way!"

**/=+=/**

**The plot's going to catch up, relax. Oh yeah, by the way, since this is Persona 4, there will most likely be OC pairings in here. But this time I'm giving that to you. Choose what country you want Charice to end up with~! You're free to change your mind, but you can't multi-vote.**


	2. Wandering Round the School Halls

**I know, this is taking a while for the plot to catch up. But Persona 4 is exactly like that too, so deal. Don't worry, I'll get this going on one of these days :D**

**/=+=/**

Kiku led Charice through the hallways as a personal tour before he led her into a small room. She took a peek in before noticing what it was called: "Newspaper Room". Last time she remembered, newspapers had something to do with human media. That's when she realized that there were other people inside the room.

"Don't be worried about the others, Charice." Kiku smiled. "They're friends of mine."

"Oh, that's fine." She chirped. "They can't be that-"

She looked up and realized that one of them was that blond man that she bumped into in the **Europe** class. Instead of swallowing her fear and greeting him, she somehow found herself screaming and slamming herself on the other side of the wall with a massive panic attack. Kiku looked over his shoulder in blank confusion.

"Um…are you OK, Charice?"

"_I'm…fine…just…had…an adrenaline…rush…"_ She sighed. _"…give me a few minutes…"_

"Ve~~~is she OK, Kiku?"

"She's just a little shy around foreign nations. Please don't mind her." He turned to her. "Are you able to calm yourself?"

"…_Sure…OK…I'm ready…"_

She shook her head and cleared her mind as she walked back inside the room, making sure that she made eye contact with the blond. Her eyes darted away from him and noticed the other man in the room. His eyes were closed, but he looked extremely aware that she was standing in the room. The other thing she noticed was the odd curl on his head. He looked…a…little…cute…

"I'd like to introduce you to my friends." Kiku smiled. "The blond is the Federal Republic of Germany, and the brunette is the Northern half of the Republic of-"

_***BAM***_

"-Italy."

Charice had blanked out just a few minutes, but when she came back to Earth she realized that she had jumped over the table and is now squeezing the life out of the poor boy. He was _"ve~ing"_ in a state of panic, which made her grip get even tighter. This time, **she** was squealing as well.

"Ve~~~~~~! D-Doitsu…_**save me!"**_

"Eh?" She looked up. "Who's Doitsu?"

"_**That's **__**me**__**…"**_

She looked up and saw the blond man glaring back down on her. Of course, there was only one thing she had to do: she screamed bloody murder and hid under the table on the other side of the room. The brunette "ve~d" in fear as he hid behind Doitsu as if he was a girl. She would see it was cute if it hadn't been for the fact that she was downright terrified at the moment.

"Ludwig, please don't scare the new girl." Kiku laughed. "She's like Wang Yao."

"Um…" She peeked over the desk. "Is it safe to come out…?"

"Ve~~~It's OK…I forgive you."

"All right…" She stood up. "Um…I'm the Outer Regions of the Philippines…but you can call me Charice."

"Ve~~~you're half of a country too? So am I!" The brunette chirped. "I'm Italy Veneziano, but everyone knows me as Feliciano!"

"That's a long name…can I call you Feli-chan for short?"

"Chan?" Kiku chuckled. "You know of my country's honorifics?"

"Honorifics? I just think it sounds cuter." She turned to him. "And even then, that name doesn't do this man justice! You're too cute for a simple name like that!"

"Ve~~~thank you :D"

"XD" She chuckled. "So…who's the taller guy?"

"I have a name, just so you know." The blond cleared his throat. "I'm Germany."

"Ahem." Feliciano winked.

"Right…you can…call me Ludwig."

"Huh…a very German name." She tilted her head. "Hey, Feli-chan? What did you call him earlier? It didn't sound anything like that."

"Oh, Doitsu?" Feliciano curled closer to him. "It's what the Japanese call Ludwig, and I think it fits him~!"

"_Feliciano, please…"_

"Interesting…I thought Germans were shorter than you…" She tilted her head the other way. "That's weird. Oh well, I've been wrong a hundred times today, what's another thousand and a half?"

"So…one thousand five hundred?"

"_Don't get technical…"_

"Ah, let's not get ourselves too confused." Kiku smiled. "I was able to bring the lunch that I promised, so please get yourself ready."

Feliciano chirped out a yay as they both sat down at the table ready for their lunches. Charice stared for a few minutes as Kiku handed out strange boxes with weird decorations on them. Feliciano opened the box and _**PRESTO**_ there was food there! She couldn't help but stare at the rice in it. _Mmm, rice…_

"Do you know what these are, Charice?" Kiku asked.

"They're…boxes." She answered.

"They're bento boxes, to be exact. The people in my country use this to hold their lunches when they travel."

"Oh, like a lunch bag!"

"Yes, like a lunch bag."

She nodded in interest before realizing that there was a bento box sitting right in front of her. After a few minutes of staring at it for a few seconds _(mainly poking it to show that it exists)_, she opened it and revealed an entire Italian dish inside of it. She stared at it for a few minutes more.

"From the looks of it, you don't have a lunch on you." Kiku smiled. "Feliciano loves to eat more than ordinary people eat, so I usually make him twice as much…but seeing as if you're a guest, I insist that you have it."

"Um…this is really random…" She looked up. "I really can't accept such a generous yet random offer like this…"

"Ve~~~it's all right!" Feliciano smiled. "Kiku has the best cooking around! You'll love it!"

Charice stared at the box of food and realized that her belly was begging for it. Screw morals. She got the two sticks next to her and snapped them in half before eating the pasta inside…and loving it…and eating it faster and faster. And now she's happier than ever.

"Well, what do you think?" Kiku asked.

"…_Mahal kita, Nihon-san…"_

"Hm?"

"Oh, sorry…I mean I love you, Kiku :D"

"Ahahaha…you're quite welcome, Charice." He smiled. "You seem to know how to use chopsticks."

"Is that what these things are called?" She stared at them. "I dunno, I just use them a lot when I eat in the restaurants back at home and when I don't want to use my hands [1]…"

"Yet you know how to use them so well?"

"My brother taught me how." Pasta slipped through her chopsticks. "I'm getting there…"

"You'll get there, Charice." Kiku chuckled. "You're doing better than Ludwig over there."

"I'm…getting there…"

Charice couldn't help but chuckle at his fail attempt at holding chopsticks. That's when she noticed something weird about him: he didn't have his glasses on. They were actually lying right in front of his bento box, out of harm's way in case something happens to it [2].

"Um…Doitsu-ki…"

He was eating his bento box in peace, not looking up. Charice turned her head. Maybe she had to say it louder…?

"_Doitsu-ki…"_

"Ludwig, she's talking to you."

"Hm?" He looked up. "You needed something?"

"…you're not wearing your glasses."

"Hm? What's wrong with that?"

"I thought people needed their glasses when they go around." She blinked. "Especially when they eat."

"Charice, I don't need glasses for anything."

"No? Then why do you wear them?"

"Ve~~~it makes him look more mature!"

"_Feliciano…"_

"Ah! Now I get it!" She chirped. "Thank you!"

"_Mein gott…help me…"_

**/= [AFTER SCHOOL] =/**

"Ate!"

"Eh?" She looked up. "Ah, kuya! Thank god school's over! That was the longest day in my _**life!"**_

"It really was, with all the initiations and stuff going on for the new students." Rizal answered, pulling some books together. "I have to go meet up with a few people from the **Europe** class for a club meeting, so can you meet me in the lobby in about two hours?"

"Sure. I'll just go wander or something."

"You're going to get lost, aren't you?"

"Haha! Of course not!"

**/=+=/**

_God help me, I'm lost._

She looked around for a few minutes, wondering just what wing she ended up in. There was an East Wing, a West Wing, and apparently a North and South one as well. After a few minutes, she gave up worrying on just what wing she was in and decided to wander around it. The light from the windows will determine where the lobby is…she hoped.

"Hey! America! Get the hell back here!"

She blinked in confusion as she heard running feet in front of her. It was then that she saw a young man with semi-long yellow hair running toward her direction, glasses reflecting purple eyes and a look of fear. They locked eye contact for half a second before he panicked and hid behind her _(and NO, she didn't scream in shock)._ She looked confused until she saw the big guy in the buff uniform charging toward him.

"What the hell is up with you? Stop annoying me with your damn politics!"

Charice turned back to the nation hiding behind her and then grinned. She stomped her feet on the ground and stuck her hand out, a grin on her face, as the man suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hold up! No more chasing America around! As the Republic of the Philippines, I hereby declare my alliance to the United States of America!" She waggled her finger. "You can't touch him now! Do so and you're going to face the wrath of the **ASIAN INVASION!"**

"_U-um…b-but I'm not America…"_

The both of them looked in confusion at the boy behind her as he stood up and peeked from behind her. He had a strange ahoge that spun around in a circle and looked rather shy for someone who was supposed to be America. Unless he _wasn't_ America.

"Wait a minute…blond hair, extremely shy, loves to hide and avoids conflict…" She slapped her hands together. "I get it! You're France, aren't you?"

"_I'm Canada!"_ He whined.

"Cana…da?" She rubbed her chin. "Oh, the landmass between America and Alaska, right? OK, I know who you are now!"

"Canada? Seriously, that's you Matthew?" The man started to laugh. "Wow, I mistook you yet again! Sorry, dude!"

"_**Eh?"**_ She looked back and forth. "Am I missing something here?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry here! Me and Canada are good friends!" The man laughed.

"_Yeah…that's Cuba."_ The other man chuckled softly.

_I can't handle bro-lationships…_ "T-that's good to hear…since I'm new to this, I guess. Um…I'm Charice, by the way."

"Ahaha! So you're one of those proper Asian nations! It's so weird, you don't look similar to them!" The tan man laughed. "You can call me Carlos. My full name is Carlos Machado, and I'm the Republic of Cuba!"

"Nice to meet you! I hope you don't mind me almost declaring war on you and stuff."

"No problem. You look like the protective type anyway!" He laughed. "Hey, Matthew…introduce yourself!"

"…_hello."_ He smiled. _"I'm Canada…Matthew Williams if you're-"_

_***tackle glomp***_

"Awwwwww, you're so cuuuuuttee :D"

"Ahahahahaha! I think she takes a fancy to you, Matthew!"

"_Uh, um…t-thank you…"_ He giggled nervously, a little scared. _"I…never had this much attention before…"_

"Whaaat? But you're so cute…!" She snuggled him. "You're like Feli-chan…only blond!"

"_Oh, Italy? T-thank you…"_

"Geez, should I leave you two alone or something?"

"_P-please don't…"_

"Hey, if you're Canada, than who's America?" She stood back. "Does he look like him?"

"Yep…I'm getting there, but it's really hard to tell the difference between the both of them." Carlos rubbed his forehead. "If you've seen America before, than you'll know what I mean."

"Hm…I think I've seen him before…" She blinked. "No, I know so. Me and my brother had lived with him for quite some time."

"Ah, I see." Carlos nodded. "That's interesting. I never thought America was sane enough to have colonies."

"I think we were commonwealths." She rubbed her forehead. "But other than that, he gave us our independence, so I don't worry too much about it."

"I see…you're a lot more forgiving than I am!" Carlos pouted. "That guy is such a _**pain!"**_

"I can…imagine that." She chuckled. "Ahahaha, you guys are fun to hang out around!"

"This is your first day here, right?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, actually." She blinked.

"We should hang out more often! I know a few other countries, so I can introduce you to them!"

"That's true!" She chirped. "If all of them are as interesting as you, then I'll love this place!"

**/=+=/**

She met up with Rizal after a few hours, noticing him waving at her. He grinned as he started walking down a pathway behind the campus, causing her to follow along. Before she knew it, she found herself at yet _**another**_ building, reaching the heavens…at least that's what it looks like.

"Um…what is this place?"

"This is our dormitory." He answered. "We're categorized by our classes as well, but we each get our own room. Fortunately, I heard that we're right next door."

"Ah! I want to see my room now!"

Rizal chuckled as he tossed the keys to her and led her into the building. He wandered the hallways until he climbed a few stairs and pointed at her room. She opened the door and looked inside, surprised that it looked like a luxury hotel room _(a little cheaper than the extremely expensive rooms, but still…)._ She jumped on the bed in the small bedroom.

_This place isn't so bad…_ She grinned. _It's like one of those expensive hotel rooms…like I'm on vacation! Only I have to study or something…_

She sighed and looked up to the ceiling.

_This isn't going to be a bad experience, after all…_

**/=+=/**

**[1] ****Filipinos are well-known for eating with their hands and usually prop their legs up when they eat. I don't know if that is all Filipinos, but me and my sister do it…and I'm American :D**

**[2] ****I do that too…we use the excuse that we don't need to see far when eating.**

**The action is going to come up next chapter…hopefully.**


	3. The First Incident

**Chapter 3! Meaning that there're more stuff going on! Hey, Persona 4 started slow, right?**

**/=+=/**

"_**I knew it! I knew those sounds weren't coming from my imagination!"**_

She rolled over in her bed, the strange voices echoing in her brain. It sounded like someone was walking down a grassy road.

"_**You can't hide anything from me…now that I know, I can easily bring you to the light! And if not me…than he will…"**_

Her eyes pried itself open, looking around the room illuminated blue in the moonlight. She turned her head around to her clock and saw that it was only five thirty in the morning. Nothing too horrible for her lack of sleep. She can operate at a time like this.

_Maybe I can get a few more minutes of sleep…_

…

_Nope, no I can't._

She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. Maybe an early breakfast can keep her up for today. She got out of bed and headed out toward her kitchen, a little mad when she opened it up and realized that it was purely empty. She cursed at it for a few minutes.

"_That's what you get when you don't bring food with you to a school…"_

She decided that she'll go into the city to buy groceries _(wherever the nearest city is)_, so she threw on her uniform and headed toward the door. As she opened it, she barely saw a red blur dash past her toward the staircase. Of course, running people usually means that she should be running too, so she closed the door behind her and dashed on after him. Once they were out in the morning light, she realized it was Li Xiao Chun.

_What's he doing up?_

She continued to dash on after him until she realized that she lost him. After a few minutes she decided that it was nothing new and went on her way toward the school. Maybe she could be the first one there and scare her brother into thinking there's something wrong with her…that's always fun.

"And who knows~?" She chirped. "I might be able to find Li Xiao Chun there!"

**/=+=/**

Charice stretched her legs as she walked down the pathway toward her school. Before she knew it, she could've sworn that she saw Kiku pass her in a dash. She blinked in confusion before hearing broken _"ve~s"_ and seeing Feliciano running past her. She stared in confusion at the tired Italian as he dashed away.

_How long was he up…?_

"**HEY! ****NO SLACKING OFF!****"** A booming voice screamed from around the corner. _**"KEEP UP THE PACE! **_**We still have two more laps around the school!"**

"_**SIR**__** YES SIR! UNDERSTOOD, SIR!"**_

She had no idea how her feet out wired her rational thinking, but before she knew it she was running the path around the school. Never mind the fact that the voice was probably talking to the tired Italian, all she knew at the moment was that she had to _run_.

"**You are slacking! Keep up your pace!"**

"_**SIR YES SIR! UNDERSTOOD, SIR! KEEPING UP THE PACE, SIR!"**_

"**Are you in any pain?"**

"_**SIR NO SIR!"**_

"**I can't hear you!"**

"_**SIR NO SIR! THERE'S NOT PAIN, SIR! I AM DOING JUST FINE, SIR! I CAN GO FOR TWO MORE LAPS, SIR!"**_

"Eh? Charice, is that you?"

"_Haa~~~~h…?"_

The footsteps behind her slowed down to a stop, causing her to stop as well. She turned her head and saw Ludwig in a rather shiny glow, wiping the sweat from his brow. He looked a little startled at staring at her, making her extremely uneasy. Then again, she's not used to glaring Germans. Who is, these days?

"_I'm…fine…sir…I walk around my country…all the time…"_ She panted. _"I just…didn't stretch, sir…I'm OK, I'm all right…"_

"No, it's OK…I'm at fault here. I wasn't paying attention." He shook his head. "I thought you were Italy. He's not one for physical training…yet."

_I can see that..._ "O…K…" She stood up. "Does that mean I still have to run?"

"Are you complaining about half a run around the school?"

"Eep! _**SIR NO SIR! I CAN GO ON FOR TWO LAPS, SIR! LET'S GO, SIR!"**_

And she was long gone.

**/=+=/**

_Never…ever…wake up early…again…ah, the pain…_

Sure, she had been jogging before, but going into a full scale dash? That was too much, especially in a dress. She didn't know how long two laps were, but before she knew it she was just outside the entrance extremely exhausted. She didn't even know where Germany went. Maybe she was running faster than usual…

Before she knew it, she heard a commotion from inside the building. Wiping the sweat away from her eyes, she walked inside _(too tired to run)_. The noise was coming from the gardens in the middle of the campus, and before she knew it she was hurrying onwards. What the hell was going on?

A whole crowd was in the area when she finally got there, surrounding the flag post bearing the UN symbol. Odd enough, they were more than willing to let her dig through and see what was inside. Before she knew it, she saw three people: Li Xiao, Matthew, and Carlos. Matthew was sobbing over the Cuban, a huge cut through his neck.

_**Carlos had been murdered…**_

Everyone seemed to be in a massive panic, talking to each other about who could've done this. Through that conversation she caught a strange topic going around the European nations, caught in worried whispers and in some hurried breaths. She stared at each and every one of them, confused out of her mind.

"_Look at his body…it looks purely human now."_

"_He hasn't reincarnated yet?"_

"_I thought all countries that die prematurely reincarnate!"_

"_What's the case with him?"_

What was going on? Reincarnation? Dying prematurely? Was there something in the "How-To-Be-a-Country" manual that she must've overlooked? She looked toward Li Xiao, who was whispering something in Chinese that she couldn't catch. Her motherly instincts caught in _(must be from raising Rizal, she guessed)_, and she leaned in toward Matthew to comfort him. His sobs were even quieter than his voice, which hurt her even more.

"It's going to be OK, Matthew…come on, don't worry."

She accidentally bumped into Carlos's body, startling her. What made it even worse was that it started glowing, freaking her out even more. She threw herself back as the muttering continued before the body ceased to glow, having a strange odd paleness to it. Charice couldn't help but point and mutter at it in confusion.

"_He reincarnated…that's good to hear…"_

"_Does that mean he's going back to Cuba?"_

"_I think so. Nothing seemed to be interfering with him…"_

**WHAT THE HELL**** is going on?**

**/=+=/**

She went to her class in a bit of a massive form of confusion. Matthew was in Kiku's hands, so she had nothing to worry about for the moment. She stumbled toward her seat _(completely confused and tired from all that running)_ and collapsed onto the staircase without even caring anymore.

"That's a perfect way to start a second day of school."

"Hah?" She looked up. "Ah, Rizal…yeah. All of this is completely confusing."

"I know, I know. What's weirder was that no one was panicking too much about it..." Rizal shrugged. "Well, most of them anyway."

"That's the weird part." She sat up. "I was hearing some people in the **Europe** class talking to each other about Cuba and how he died prematurely or something like that? And something about reincarnation, too…"

"You heard that too? I thought they were just playing." He sighed. "Well, that's what you get when you just got out of Third World Country status a few decades ago without a super country watching you…you don't know anything."

"Well, what were they talking about? Who are we even going to ask about this, anyway?"

"We could try Yao."

"Who?"

"Wang Yao." He turned his head. "Oh, here he comes now."

Charice looked up and saw the long haired boy(?) from yesterday walk into the class in a bit of a daze. He looked up from it and saw the two other countries looking at him in confusion, startling the poor Chinese man. He quickly straightened himself.

"Is something wrong with my outfit, aru?"

"No, we just wanted to ask you a question." Rizal stated. "It's about what just happened outside the campus."

"Oh…well, Cuba is a good man, aru. Li Xiao hung out with him from time to time."

"No, it's not that. It's just that Charice and I were listening to a few conversations among the **Europe** class…" Rizal explained. "A lot of them were talking about reincarnation…?"

"What? You didn't know about it? I thought all countries knew that, aru."

"Well, we didn't have the luxury of someone telling us that." Charice stated. "We basically lived alone and grew up together."

"Ah, I see…well, you two should know about it in case something like this happens again." Yao sat down at his desk. "It's a long topic, so I'll tell you what you should know right now."

They leaned in.

"You see, this is what we call the bond between we nations and the people that live within our landmass boarders. We do our best to make our people happy with all of the diplomatic meetings that we continuously slug ourselves into. By making them happy, we allow them to have faith in us and the people we choose to lead us." Yao Wang leaned in. "Naturally when a diplomatic treaty or massive bankruptcy is issued, we die naturally. But when we are murdered, like…Carlos…nations call that premature death, since it is not official. Naturally, we are reincarnated through the people's love and trust in us, usually in a different body."

"But…?" Rizal turned his head. "There is a but in here, right?"

"Yes. In Cuba's case, that circle was not allowed to finish itself. He was not allowed to reincarnate."

"That's a bad thing." Charice blinked.

"Yes. When a nation is not allowed to reincarnate, the whole nation goes into a panic. Usually it turns into a national revolt or a crash into their economy, but…" China stated. "In other words, if one part of the section is down, the whole nation cannot exist."

"Wow…to think that we have such a huge impact toward them." Charice looked up to Rizal. "I always thought we were just national gauges that our boss uses to figure out their next move!"

"That is one of our jobs." China stated. "But if you two don't mind, please don't mention this to Li Xiao Chun, all right? They were…close."

"We can do that."

**/=+=/**

Everyone was quiet during the class time, even though most of them never talked to the Cuban. Charice couldn't help but feel extremely bad, since she only spoke to the interesting man once. He and Matthew seemed to be really good friends. What is he thinking this time…?

_I'll find him during lunch time._ She thought. _He definitely needs comforting at a time like this…_

Before she knew it, the bell ran and lunch time began. Charice looked at everyone's startled faces as they hesitantly wandered out of the room, obviously iffy about the safety of this school ever since what just happened. She decided that she might as well go out and find Matthew now. She started down the stairs.

"How did you do it?"

She turned her head and saw that Li Xiao Chun was still there, sitting in his chair as if he was in a deep thought. But he was obviously talking to her about something.

"…how did I do what? Make Carlos glow like that?" She shrugged. "I don't know. He just…glowed."

"That's strange…_the both of us were supposed to be the only one who can do that."_

"Hm?"

"Nothing…just thinking out loud."

Charice stood staring at him for a few minutes before they heard worried rumbling echoing from outside the room. They turned their heads and saw a panicked young man outside the room. He looked like Canada, only he sounded louder and more annoying. _I'm guessing that's America…_

"Guys…hey guys!" He leaned in. "Have you seen my brother around?"

"Who, Matthew?" She blinked. "I saw him this morning!"

"Yeah, but after that…he just _**vanished!"**_ America panicked. "No one in the school has seen him!"

Charice darted her head toward Li Xiao Chun, who had a semi-blank look on his face that seemed to be shock. Before he knew it, he nodded calmly and turned away, signaling that Charice should talk to him this time. He was up to something…something huge…

"We'll be on the lookout for him, America." She stated.

"Thanks guys…god, I'm really getting worried…"

He quickly got out of there, leaving Charice alone. She began to walk toward the door, thinking if the same guy who got Carlos got Matthew. _Are they aiming for two to one…? That isn't good! But where would he hide him…?_

She turned her head slowly and saw that Li Xiao Chun had headed toward the nearest television set. He took a deep breath before placing his hand on it, and _**what did she get?**_ His hand had literally gotten through it! She couldn't help but scream, starling him and pulling his hand out. It shot out as if it was water.

"W-w-w-w-what was _**THAT?"**_ She blinked. "Wait…you know where Canada is, don't you!"

"…I have an idea." He answered, still confused. "But I'm the only one who can go there…"

She stared at him with a blank look on his face before finally getting fed up with him. She stomped toward the TV set, glared at him for a few seconds, and slammed her hand on the screen. Nothing happened for a few minutes before she saw the TV set glow and her whole arm sank inside. She yelped and pulled it out, seeing the semi-startled look on Li Xiao's face.

"I'm the only one, my dignity. I can get in there too." She turned toward the TV. "I'm going with. I have to save Matthew."

"…you don't even know what's on the other side, Charice." Li Xiao looked mad. "And you're just going to throw yourself in like this?"

"Sorry if it seems Mary Sue that way. But I have faith in the Lord above." She pointed to the sky and winked. "He'll guide us to him, I just know it!"

"If you insist…but you might not like what's on the other side."

"I'll go in once, just for Matthew…" She turned his head to him. "But on the other hand, you should tell me how exactly you know these things."

"Well, I can't bargain out of this can I?" He sighed. "I'll go first. Follow me."

She watched as Li Xiao slowly climbed into the set as if he was getting into a box, vanishing into the static of the TV set. She turned her head to the door to make sure that there were witnesses, said a quick prayer, and then threw herself headfirst into the TV.

**/=+=/**

**Yeah, I didn't really plan this chapter out that much. I did the next one, though! So don't worry about the crappiness of this one :D**


	4. Matthew William's World

**So chapter four is up! You're going to notice something weird: music associated only with the other world? Duh, cause that's just how I roll!**

**/="Lost Forest" by Professor Layton=/**

She found her feet touching snow. Looking up, she realized that she had landed in a strange area, covered with snow-covered trees and a dull gray sky. It almost had a depressing mood to it. As she looked around she realized that Li Xiao Chun was there as well, wearing strange red Chinese attire. She looked down and realized that she was wearing her red attire as well…skirt and everything.

That's when she realized that she was freezing cold.

"**Gahhh!"** She shivered. "What is this place, and who turned down the thermostat to _**nonexistent?"**_

"We're on the other side…though I'm surprised that this place is oddly tame." Li Xiao looked around. "This…is Matthew's world."

"Matthew's world?" She lowered her arms. "Wait…**MATTHEW** created all of this?"

"Not willingly, no…but that's all I know." He looked up. "Hate to say it, but I am almost as lost as you are."

"_**WHAT?**_ Are you saying you just jumped in here without any clue on what's going ON?"

"I've only done this once before…with Cuba."

"…_Carlos?"_

"…come on. We have to go find Matthew here. The longer he stays here, the more danger he's going to see."

"Right, right! Lead the way!"

"I don't know the way…we need to find the path."

"_**WHAT?"**_

"Carlos told me that when nations die prematurely, they leave behind a sign…something calling to others to bring them full circle in the reincarnation process." Li Xiao looked around. "The last time I came here, it was a path of flowers…but the farther they are from slipping away, the less noticeable these signs are."

"Wait…does that mean that Matthew…?"

"I don't know…but whatever happened, we need to think of later. We have to find the sign."

She and Li Xiao slowly wandered the area, looking for anything that could lead the way. Before she knew it, she turned her head and saw a strange bear sitting just a few feet away from them. Charice tilted her head in confusion as she walked up toward it as he was wiping his head from his head.

"Hey, Li Xiao…what about this?"

"Eh? Hey, be careful! That might attack you!"

Charice jumped away in shock as Li Xiao ran toward her. They stared at the bear in front of them before they realized it wasn't going to do anything. They continued to stare at it for a few minutes before Li Xiao blinked in surprise and a surprised gasp escaped him.

"That's Kumajiro."

"It's a mountain?"

"That's Kilimanjaro, the mountain. This is someone different." He sighed. "Carlos stated that Matthew carried him around a lot."

"So do you think he's the sign we're looking for?"

"It's a good conclusion, but…don't go too deep with that conclusion." Li Xiao looked at him. "Kumajiro, where is your master?"

He stared at him for a few minutes before he waddled off somewhere. They quickly ran after him, surprised that the damn bear could actually run that far. Before they knew it, they noticed that the bear was running into a strange cloud. She blinked as the clouds formed into strange circles with tongues. Yes, she screamed.

"_**What the hell are THOSE?"**_

"…Shadows." Li Xiao lifted his hand. "They're after Matthew too…"

**/="Must Eliminate…" by Fragile Dreams=/**

"What the hell is going on, Li Xiao? Seriously! This whole place is a nutcase!"

"Never mind that. We have to get these shadows out of the way. Otherwise they'll go after us." Li Xiao glared. "Hope you know how to fight."

"I know a few things. Thank my brother for that."

Li Xiao nodded before charging into battle and drop kicking three of them into oblivion. Charice grinned as she found her hand holding the clip in her hair and pulling out a shining yellow poleaxe from the sun, slashing out two other Shadows in the process. The Chinese man looked up and stared at her sudden morphing of a weapon.

"…I guess it's parallel world logics!" She laughed. "Don't think about it!"

"…O…K…"

They start bashing through a few other Shadows, only shocked to see that there were more of them hanging around. Charice was about to panic when she saw Li Xiao lift his hand. Instantly, a card appeared in his palm, showing the image of an eye under a lamp.

"Lü Dongbin." He smiled. "Take them apart."

She looked up and saw a man appear from the card, wearing a red robe and bore green skin. He swung his hand, and instantly a whole wave of fire shot out toward the Shadows, eliminating the entire row. She stared at him as the card sank back into his hand.

**/="Lost Forest" by Professor Layton=/**

"…what the hell was that?"

"That is my power." He answered. "It comes from the depths of my soul…and does my will."

"…like a slave?"

"Only he is me."

"…you're an immortal?"

He stared at her.

"You know what I mean."

"No, I'm not a deity. He's only a figment of my soul, not really me…a Persona, if you will."

"So you're not a Chinese god?"

"No, I'm not."

"This is getting confusing."

"You're making it confusing. Now where's Kumajiro?"

"I see him! He's right there!"

They turned their heads and saw Kumajiro crawling toward the depths of the forest, tempting them to follow. During their otherwise quiet walk, Charice couldn't help but notice that she was getting a strange sense of dread and fear from inside the forest. There were so many feelings running through the air that she couldn't catch them. But then her nose caught a strange smell.

"Li Xiao Chun…? Do you smell that?"

"Hm? I don't smell anything."

"I smell smoke." She blinked. "Burning cloth?"

"Burning cloth…" He took two steps forward. "I smell it now…"

"What does that mean?"

"You can go ahead and try and figure that out, but I'm going to look into it."

"Who says that I'm going to think about it? _**Wait up!"**_

**/="Prisoners of Fate" by Chrono Cross=/**

Charice followed the man through more of the forests until she could smell all of the smoke, filling up her extremely trained nostrils _(that's what she gets when she can smell food a mile away)_. They looked up and saw in shock that it was a huge clearing of trees filled with flags smoldered with fire.

"_What the hell is this place…?"_ She gasped.

"These are his inner thoughts…" Li Xiao lifted up a flag. It was China's. "He hates everyone from ignoring him…"

Charice walked through all the ashes, viewing all the flags that were covered with ashes. What was weird was that some of them were more burnt than others, and then there are some that were just slashed in half. She turned her head and saw the Italian flag sliced in half and burned. But it didn't compare to the American flag. In fact, it was so burnt that she couldn't even tell that it was the American flag until she saw one of the stars.

"Hey! Look at this!" She lifted up a flag. "This one's hardly singed!"

"Seriously?" Li Xiao looked at it. "That's the Cuban national flag…"

"Well, at least he doesn't hold any grudges against him." She turned her head. "Hey, and here's mine too! And look, my section of the flag is perfectly clean!"

"Your…section?"

"Yeah. Rizal is the blue half and I'm the red half." She looked back to the flag. "But my god, his side isn't even blue anymore…"

"_**God, no one remembers me…and when they do, they're only there to mock me…why?"**_

They turned their heads to see Matthew walking toward them, almost as if he was a zombie. He had the same strange purple aura around him, startling Charice, and when he opened his eyes they were glowing a strange gold color. She had to scream for that.

"_**You're here to mock me too, aren't you?"**_

"Eh? What makes you say that?" She stated. "We're here to get you out of here!"

"_**Why should I leave? It's perfect this way."**_ Matthew answered. _**"Here, no one mocks me. Here, no one continues to ask me who I am anymore. Here…I belong."**_

"Belong to who?" She blinked. "There's no one here!"

"_**Exactly…here, I finally belong to myself…why can't you honor that promise?"**_

"Because you are still a nation." Li Xiao Chun stepped forward. "If you were to stay here, your country will suffer. Your people will suffer. And when your people suffer, you will die here. **ALONE.**"

"_**It doesn't matter…I want to speak out for myself for once!"**_ He was mad. _**"Why should I go back there? No one loves me anymore! And with Carlos gone, who's going to be there for me?"**_

"What about your brother, Alfred?" Charice blinked. "Doesn't he care for you?"

"_**No…none of them do! That's why I belong here! You can't get me to go back out there! If you are, I'll kill you where you stand!"**_

"Whoa, that's much!" Charice backed up. "What's his problem?"

"…is this his…?"

She turned her head to see that Matthew's body was glowing a strange color, completely covering his body. She backed up as Li Xiao got ready to counter. The fog got bigger and bigger until it was at least four times the original size, making Charice hold her poleaxe.

"This Shadow…it's stronger than I had ever fought before."

"Ah, don't worry about it. The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" She grinned. "Come on, it can't be that ba-"

She looked up and saw that the figure had turned into a huge man covered with scars, burns and chains that were colored by a lot of the national flags. His cheeks were swollen, his eyes were red, and his whimpering was quite scary. What was weirder was that he was…naked?

"-aaaaaa…fuck."

**/="Battle Theme (Summoned Beast)" by Final Fantasy X=/**

"_**I am a Shadow…the true self…"**_

_The…true self…_ Charice blinked. _What is he…?_

"_**You can't bring me back out there! There's nothing for me back home! No one loves me there!"**_

The chains started to straighten out into battering weapons as Li Xiao and Charice tried their best to dodge as much of the swinging as possible. She found herself hit in the leg and found herself swinging high in the air, landing on her back. It hurt, let's say that much.

"God, does he even recognize me anymore?" She stood up. "I thought I was on the list of people he _**didn't**_ hate!"

"It's just a Shadow, Charice! The one that was created when Matthew made this world!" Li Xiao kicked hard into the monster's side. "If we get him out of the way, he should be safe!"

"Yeah, like we haven't really figured out what happened to him!" Charice sliced through his stomach. "Geez, what the heck is this guy working out with? _**DARK MATTER?"**_

"That makes…no sense." Li Xiao lifted up his Persona card. "But we must end this quickly."

"_**NO FREAKIN' DUH!"**_ She yelled. "You have a plan?"

"Just one. _**Dongbin!"**_

She jumped out of the way and landed just as Li Xiao blew the fire Shadow on fire, beating him out of the way. She was about to recharge in there when she realized that there was something in her hand that didn't feel like a poleaxe. She lifted her hand and noticed that there was a card in her hand, bearing the picture of a guy with a dog.

_**["I AM THOU."]**_

She darted her head to the side and saw an exact replica of her standing a few feet away from her, with the same strange glow that Shadow Matthew had. However, she didn't seem to make a move to attack her. Instead, she politely gave out a little wave and smiled.

"You're the same as Matthew…"

_**["AND THOU ART I."]**_

"I get it now…this isn't a Shadow at all…" She turned to her. "If you're really me…then help me."

The other Charice started to glow and form into the image of a man with flowing white robes and sandals. She stared as he pointed toward the Shadow with a smile on his face, and that's when she knew what she had to do. She squeezed her hands.

"_**Maguimba!"**_

The Persona flew in front of her and spun toward the heart of the Shadow, completely obliterating him front the inside. She stared in shock as the card flew back to her and the Shadow turned back to Matthew's form, feeling it sink back into her skin.

**/="Who am I?" by Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days=/**

"Oh…my…god." She breathed out. "I'm _**badass."**_

"Have fun with that thought. I'm doing it."

"W-w-w-w-wait! Doing _**what?"**_

"I have to destroy the Shadow! If not, it's going to kill Matthew!"

"Li Xiao, listen to me! Look, this might be something completely out of the blue, but…" She pointed. "**THAT'S** Matthew."

"That's not Matthew! It's only a manifestation of his doubt and guilt! That's what all Shadows are, Charice!" He pointed out. "All the Shadows here are just physical representations of sadness and murder!"

"Don't you think that manifestation could in fact hold part of him?" She stated. "If he knew about Matthew's pain in the real world, don't you think he might actually be a part of him?"

Li Xiao stared at the Shadow in front of them, who was now sobbing at their feet confused out of his mind. Charice had to look at the Chinese man to make sure that he doesn't make a lunge toward him.

"_**I don't belong there anymore…ever since he died…"**_

_["Do you really believe that? You do belong."]_

Everyone turned their heads in confusion to see that Kumajiro had crawled toward them and was now just sitting there staring at him. That's when the realization hit her.

"**OH MY GOD** the bear talks!"

_["Your brother still loves you…your father still loves you…everyone loves you."]_ Why does the bear sound like a child? _["These two were willing to give up everything for you. That is belonging."]_

"…_**Kumajiro…"**_

_["Go back. They need you."]_

"…_**I understand…everyone needs me…even though they may not need me now…"**_ He smiled. _**"All right…I'll go back."**_

Kumajiro smiled as the Shadow began to dematerialize into a cloud form, merging with Kumajiro as it began to glow a strange blue. When the cloud vanished, it had changed form into a child version of Matthew. He looked up to his hands in surprise before looking up and instantly getting tackle glomped by Charice.

Hey, it had to happen.

"Charice…you're breaking him."

"But he's so cuuuute!" She chirped. "We can carry him on the way out now!"

"Yeah, great…do you know **how** to get out of here?"

Oh, right…

"_D-don't you have to follow the string?"_

"The what?"

"_The string! Behind you!"_

They turned their heads to see that Charice's left pinky finger had been tied to a red string this entire time, leading through the entire path while they were wandering. She chuckled in nervousness for a few minutes before going down the path as quickly as she could.

**/=+=/**

"Aaaand…here's the path!"

She had led the entire group back to the TV set that they had wandered through, the screen still flickering out as usual. She turned back to the other too to see Li Xiao's interested grin and Matthew's light smile on his face…wait a minute…

"Whoa, Matthew! You grew!"

"_Eh?"_ He stared at himself. _"I'm…normal?"_

"Hey, Li Xiao? You have an answer for this?"

"No, I don't. But even if I did, I wouldn't explain it here." Li Xiao stated. "We'll talk about it once we're back home."

"Right, right!" She turned to Matthew. "It's not that hard. All you have to do is go through the screen!"

"_Eh?"_

"Like this!"

And she stuck her hand through the screen. Matthew blinked before sticking his hand through the screen. He nodded a little bit before going through. She smiled before turning to Li Xiao, who was staring at her.

"Ladies first."

"Ah. Right. See you on the other side."

**/=+=/**

**MYTHOLOGY LESSON ;D**

**Lü Dongbin**** is one of the Eight Immortals of Chinese mythology. He was a bit of a womanizer at first but was told to undertake ten tests before achieving immortality status. He passed all ten of them and was turned immortal, and he spent the rest of his human life showing the world how to let go earthly desires. [Li Xiao Chun- Hermit]**

**Maguimba**** is a Filipino deity more focused around the Batak people. He was more focused toward medicine and was responsible for providing the ways to the Batak way of life. He had the ability to cure all illnesses and even to bring the dead back to life. [Charice Pacquio- Fool]**

**Well…see you next chapter!**


	5. Social Link GO!

**So here's your next chapter! Since it's the real world…no music! Haha.**

**/=+=/**

She jumped out of the TV screen like she was jumping off a ledge, looking around and surprised to see that there was no one in the room. Charice looked around in confusion as Li Xiao peeked through the TV set and jumped out, looking just as confused as she was. It was then that she decided to speak.

"…um…" She turned her head. "Where is he?"

"He's not here…?" Li Xiao turned his head around. "Wait…"

Charice noticed that he was staring at something. She turned her head and realized that he was looking at the clock on the wall. It was then that she was shocked: it had only been two minutes since they had jumped into the TV set. Two whole minutes…

"Was it really two minutes in there?" She blinked. "It was a lot longer than that…"

"Time is different in both of these realms…" Li Xiao concluded. "But even if that's different…where did Matthew go?"

"Well, I guess we're going to have to look for him in the school…"

**/=+=/**

After a few minutes, Charice found him in the middle of one of the libraries. They looked in and realized that he was staring at a TV screen, most likely the one that he had fallen into. She knocked on the wooden shelf, alerting him to turn his head and see the smiling Filipina smiling back at him.

"Everything connected on you?"

"_Yes…thank you."_ Matthew blushed. _"I hope that I wasn't that big of a trouble…"_

"No, no…everything is fine!" She grinned. "Besides, if we're only doing it once, I don't think there's any problem with it!"

"_Um…t-thank you…"_ He blinked. _"Oh, Li Xiao."_

She turned her head to see that he had indeed caught up with her, giving him a small wave before walking toward the TV to make sure nothing was going to come out of it. He touched the screen and saw that his fingertips had still passed through them. It scared Matthew still, but not as much.

"_So everything that happened is…?"_

"It happened, Matthew. You can't deny it." He pulled his hand out. "Fortunately, we Asians are also good secret keepers."

"…_Thank you…i-it would be weird if my true feelings leaked out to anyone else…"_ He laughed nervously. _"But…what was that place, anyway?"_

Charice opened her mouth to answer when she realized that Li Xiao was answering his question in great detail. She sat there and listened to him talk about the Shadows and how they're incarnations of the sadness of the people from their world, how Matthew was the one who created the area he fell in, and how Li Xiao knew everything about it.

"_Carlos…?"_

"He was the one who found that world. It was when I was in Cuba when Yao was visiting him." He began. "There was a murder there…similar to what happened here. He told me that there was another world on the other side and it was the only explanation for that murder with no marks on it…"

"_But, how…"_

"When he went to save her, I accidentally fell in after him. He realized that I had a power as well, similar to his, and we decided that we were going to make sure that anyone else who had the same fate were saved as well." He smiled. "He never told me who the girl was…he just said it was a fellow citizen that he needed to help."

"Woooow…" Charice's eyes widened. "So Carlos showed you…"

"It was then that we realized that someone else fell victim to this strange murder pattern…the country Monaco. Not only that, we realized that it halted the reincarnation process." Li Xiao sighed. "We were too late to save her…but then we realized that our powers allowed us to complete the reincarnation circle with a simple touch of our fingers."

"_I-Is that how it happened back with…?"_ He grunted, unable to say his name. _"When Charice touched him…?"_

"Yes. If I were to say anything, he was probably passing over his powers to her." He answered. "Though I could be wrong, and she was just as talented as I was…"

"Are you saying that I was born with whatever you had…?"

"I would like to assume so…"

"_W-what would that mean, though…?"_

"Well, **DUH**. All Asians are just innately gifted!" Charice chuckled.

…

"Either that or it just turned out that I was at the right place at the right time." She shrugged. "I really don't know. But hey! Would that mean that Matthew has the same power as we do now cause he fell in there?"

"_T-that's not something I want to test out…I don't want to go back in there…"_ He cringed. _"That was scary the first time."_

"Fortunately, we don't have to worry about it. For some reason, these murders tend to vary itself…from once a day to even twice every six years. We were never able to figure out who was actually doing it." Li Xiao sighed. "But please know that if this happens again, I'll have to handle this again."

"Hey **hey **_**HEY!**_ What about me!" Charice shot her hand out like she was waving her hand for a test. "I have the power too! _**AAAAAND**_ I'm Asian, so don't throw that excuse to me!"

He shrugged. She figured that was his way of saying yes. Suddenly, they heard a thud.

"Matthew! Dude, is that you? Oh god, please tell me it's you and not another freakin' mirror in front of me! _**DAMN**_ that Ludwig for making this place filled with 'em!"

"_Eh? A-Alfred?"_

"Oh, thank god it's you! I've been looking for you this entire time!" He grabbed his brother's shoulders. "Do you know how worried I was? Ever since what just happened, the whole building's gotten phobic!"

"…_you were worried about me…?"_

"Of course I was! Why wouldn't I be? You're my brother, Matthew. We're family."

It was then that Charice realized that both she and Li Xiao were in a personal moment, yet found herself so interested that she didn't want to leave. She turned and walked toward one of the bookcases as if she was going to leave but instead went in for a better look. Matthew's eyes were now watering before he wiped a falling tear.

"…_Thank you, Alfred…thank you…"_

"…we should get to class."

_**DAMN you**_**, **_Li Xiao Chun…_

"Eh? Oh, hey dude! When were you here?"

"Just now. We were looking for him and found him here." Li Xiao stood up. "Now if you excuse me, I have to get to class before I get late."

"Leave it to an Asian to worry about class!" Alfred chuckled. "All right, all right. Let's get to class!"

**/=+=/**

Unfortunately, all she could really worry about during class was the strangeness that had happened today. She had to admit, it was something she couldn't just sit there and ignore. What is there to be forgotten about a murder victim, jumping into a TV and fighting the sadness and anger of all humans on this planet? What is there to be forgotten about diving into a country's deepest, darkest secret?

_Nothing. Nothing at all._

Was she emotionally capable of handling something like this? Of course she would choose the path of saving lives. That was the path that God has given her, and she will take that road. But could she emotionally handle holding so many secrets? Who else could be next? When would the next murder happen? A few hours? A few days…centuries from now? Would she still be ready then?

_I have this power…I can save so many people…and here I am chickening out of it!_ She thought. _I know Matthew probably won't be able to handle it…but that would mean that Li Xiao Chun would have to do all of this alone. No, I have to do this. Even if it kills me-_

"Ate? Are you OK?"

She looked up to see that Rizal was standing in front of her, looking confused. It was then that she realized that he always seemed to have that weird oblivious look on his face, even when he was fighting in a world war against a super nation. What makes him wear that look of confidence…?

"Oh, hey bro." She sat up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"It's lunchtime. The fact that you haven't been jumping from your seat means that something's wrong." He folded his arms. "So what is it?"

"Lack of sleep, I guess." It was the universal excuse. "I woke up a few hours earlier than usual and couldn't sleep afterwards…"

"Sure, of course not. There's something bothering you, Charice." Rizal leaned in. "Tell me."

"…I can't lie to you, can I?" She smiled. "It's just the murder recently…it's been bothering me. I never thought countries could die like that…"

"We have a human form, Charice. And anything with a human form can be killed like one." Rizal stated. "That's all we can do. We have to protect each other."

"Yeah…exactly. That's all we can do." She smiled. "That's all we can do."

Rizal smiled, happy that she's a little cheered up, when he looked at the time and realized that he had somewhere to be. He turned to her as she stood up, ready to just talk to someone at this moment. She was the one to openly talk about something.

"Take care of yourself, ate."

"You too, kuya."

He nodded as he walked down the stairs and headed out the door to the room. She laughed at him as she walked down the stairs after him, deciding that she might as well crash the Newspaper Office again and see if there's food there, when she realized that she was pointing the sky when she said that and that there was a card in her hand.

_Oh…that's new. Was that there before?_

She looked at the cover and saw how it looked like a spear with three lines in the middle of it. It looked interesting until she realized that someone else was in the room. She turned her head and noticed that there was a tanned birdman behind her, glowing a strange white and dressed like a Filipino deity.

**["I AM THOU, AND THOU ART I."]**

"Whoa…what the hell was…?" She turned her head around. "How did this happen? I thought you were supposed to be in the other world…?"

**["AS THE HOLY SCEPTER THAT YOU WIELD IN YOUR HAND, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

"…Galang Kaluluwa." _Um…why does he have Rizal's voice?_

He sank into the card in her hand, which then sank into her arm. She looked around for a few minutes before deciding that she was going to wander around the school instead…though she sorta hoped that she would find the Newspaper Club instead.

**/=+=/**

She walked around for a few minutes, wondering just what the heck she was going to do, when she found herself in the middle of the music hall with music playing. Confused, she turned her head toward the door and knocked on it, hearing a small "come in".

As she came in, she realized that there were three people in the room. One of them looked like an extremely busty lady with platinum hair _(whose breasts reminded her that she HAD none)_, while another one kinda looked like Ludwig with his hair down _(she thought…it was probably the glasses)_. Still, she found herself interested with the last man at the piano: he looked so much more elegant than the rest of them.

"Are you looking for something?" The blond man asked.

"No…just wandering around. I heard music and wanted to see if I was going insane or not." She smiled. "I mean, I never heard music so pretty before."

"Why thank you!" The girl said, bouncing in happiness and making a weird _boing_ sound as well _(again, she found herself looking at her lack of breasts)_. "Hey, are you from the **Asia** class?"

"Yep! I'm the Philippines, but you can call me Charice!"

"I'm Ukraine, but you can call me Irunya." The girl chirped. "The blond man here is Eduard, who is Estonia…and that's Roderich over there. He's the president of the Music Club, but you can call him Roderich."

"I would much prefer Austria, though…especially since this is the first time we met."

"Formalities. Of course, of course, Mr. President." Charice grinned. "In that case, call me Philia."

"Philia?" Eduard looked confused _(yet sounded nothing like Ludwig…blech)_. "But I thought you were the Philippines."

"I am, I am. But my brother uses that title. It sounds manlier." She pointed at herself. "I use Philia to make people know I'm a girl."

"Oh, I see." Roderich nodded. "Like how Italy is."

"Italy? You're saying that he has a brother too?"

"You didn't know that? I was made aware that you met Italy."

"Yeah, Italy. Not his brother, though." She chirped. "But I want to know where I can meet him!"

"Wish I knew. I don't pay attention to him or his brother anymore."

"Oh…OK…" She tilted her head.

"But no matter." Roderich sighed. "Can you play an instrument?"

"Um…drums? Sorta, kinda, not really…"

He just sighed.

"But I was just passing by, really! I wasn't planning on joining the music club and completely ruining your image!" She laughed nervously. "Well…I've been annoying you enough…maybe I should go back and annoy someone else right now…"

"Yes…please do…" Roderich turned back to the piano.

"But don't be hesitant to come back! We love the company!" Irunya chirped.

"Of course of course!"

She closed the door behind her and sighed. What was up with these clubs having Germany lookalikes? Seriously, if she finds one more of them she was going to be _**seriously**_ lucky that she doesn't go flat out insane. She looked up and almost screamed: there was a woman in front of her. She had blue hair and white robes, but there was a wheel where her midriff was.

_Whoa…I'm changing what I'm drinking in the morning…_

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_Oh…it speaks in Irunya's voice. Thank god!_ She sighed. _God forbid it does something weird like-_

**["AS THE ONE WHO SPINS THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

_HOLY CRAP it spoke like Roderich!_

She turned her head to her hand and saw a card there. This time it was a yellow dagger in front of what looked like to be a wheel or something. The image sank into the card as it sank into her arm. She blinked for a few minutes before sighing in her sleeve.

_Women talking like men. God, I'm never going to live through this._

**/=+=/**

**Galang Kaluluwa**** is a Filipino deity that takes the form of a winged man. He is shown as a lover of travel and is a close friend to Bathala, which is the Filipino deity for the creator of the Filipino world. When the Spanish spread Christianity, Bathala was quickly assumed to be that Christian God. [Rizal Pacquiao- Hierophant]**

**Fortuna**** is a Roman goddess. She used to be associated with fertility but is now known for spinning the Wheel of Fortune. [Music Club- Wheel of Fortune]**

**Yay…SOCIAL LINK GO!**


	6. The Magician and the Tomato Garden

**And now…FOR THE DREADED FILLER EPISODE! Hell, cause all of Persona 4 that's not plot related is nothing but filler!**

**/= [DAY 01] =/**

She yawned as she looked out the window for the day. Ever since yesterday, she couldn't help but have a strange sense of dread. It should be normal, considering the fact that she's dealing with a mass murderer. But nonetheless, she'll have to deal with it.

And what was the deal with those cards that she had earlier? She quickly recalled the ones that she had held before: **[FORTUNE], [HERMIT], [FOOL], **and **[HIEROPHANT].** Where had she heard an assortment like that before…? She was getting extremely confused right now.

_Ah, oh well~! I can look it up in the library during lunchtime!_ She stretched her arms. _All right…let's do this!_

**/=+=/**

_Here's the database…_

She went up to the computer and started to type up all of the words in her head. Nonetheless, not one of them seemed to have all four of them in common. She grumbled and sighed. She was going to have to do this the old fashioned way. What joy.

"What are you doing?"

She turned her head around and saw a blond man standing behind her. He had blond hair and the **Europe** class outfit, pretty emerald eyes, and what she had to consider the _**THICKEST**_ eyebrows that she had ever seen in her life. And she had seen THICK _(think Li Xiao for a minute)_. Of course, she had to hold back a chuckle.

"Um…I'm just…looking something up, that's all." She answered, holding back her laugh.

"What about…?" He seemed annoyed.

"Oh, um…something small." She gestured. "Like…something to do with cards and fortunes and hermits and stuff…"

"Do you mean the Tarot Cards?"

She stared at him in surprise, who seemed surprised as well. Obviously he wasn't thinking that she was bringing that up. After a few minutes of verifying that she wasn't kidding, he grinned and pointed her to a table, allowing her to sit down and watch him pull out a deck from his pocket.

"Have you heard of Tarot Cards before?"

"Um…maybe once or twice. But we don't really use them." She answered, amused. "Why? Are they some type of magic or something?"

"Popular among the humans…not much us, since we usually know our fate…" He drew a card. "But these Tarot Cards are said to predict the future…if you believe in them."

"Is that so?" She blinked.

"You don't believe me?"

"No, it's just that the deck that you're holding seem a lot different than the one I had." She blinked. "But go on."

"Ah, you really don't understand. Here, let me show you."

He grinned as he pulled out five more cards from the deck and laid them all out. She watched as he pointed at one card _(the one in the middle)_ and flipped it over with a simple snap of the wrist. It was then that she realized what it was: it was her.

"This is the card that represents you right now." The man smiled. "The Fool."

"What, are you calling me an idiot?"

"In some context, yes that's what it's referred to…but not here." He stated. "In this case, the Fool represents one unlearned, a newcomer still trying to learn about the world around them. In other words, they look like fools to those who know their surroundings well."

Well, seeing as how she hasn't seen many of these countries _(except for a couple that she had bumped into during history)_, that would make sense. She watched as he flipped the card next to it, revealing the Moon. However, it was facing him and not her.

"The Moon in this position states that you're undergoing a mystery, right?"

"Mystery?" _Is it talking about the murders…?_ "Um…a little bit. Just trying to get around, that's all."

"Usually, those mysteries are minor like that. Let's see…"

The man looked at the card in front of him and realized that he had flipped a card with a skull on it. She knew what it meant, anyone would: it was Death. He looked up in startlement before the bell rang, telling everyone that it was time to get to class. He panicked before he collected the cards and hurried out.

"Hold up a sec~!" She jumped. "I never caught your name!"

"It's Arthur! Now hurry up and get to class!"

She sighed about that for a few minutes as he left, rubbing a finger up on her head and realized that there was a card grazing her forehead. She looked at it in confusion and realized that it was a pair of eyes with hands holding up a black flame. Charice looked up in confusion and turned her head around to see a figure behind her. He looked aged, yet barely passing out a beard and was dressed in very old mage robes.

_Who the hell is…?_

**["I AM THOU, AND THOU ART I."]**

_He sounds like Arthur…wait, he kinda looks like Merlin from those old European legends…_

**["AS THE MAN WHO STOOD SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE WISEST KING OF EUROPE, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

The image and card both vanished, leaving her confused. She looked around to make sure no one else saw that and realized that no one was in the library, leaving her in a huff. Seriously, no one respects books anymore. It was then that she realized that she was going to be late for class. So she ran like the wind.

**/= [DAY 08] =/**

Class was going to annoy her now. Seriously, a week on Pre-Calculus and she was going to punch someone on the face…again. And by the way, Yong Soo was looking quite tempting. Fortunately, lunch time rolled around and she was out of the class faster than most of them can stand up.

_Ugh…I just realized that it's been a while that I've been going through these lunch breaks without any lunch…_ She sighed. _I need to eat something._

She walked down the pathway until she found herself back outside, feeling the crisp warm air around her. As she was walking down the area she couldn't help but notice that she fell upon a garden filled with vegetables…more importantly, tomatoes.

_Tomatoes? Pasta, pizza, garden salads…_ _***Grumble***__ GOD DAMMIT…_

She stared at them as they tempted her toward them with crazy smiles on their faces, beckoning her to pick one. Besides, it was probably a national garden, right? What's the harm of picking just one of them…?

"Oi! Get the hell away from there!"

OK, that…

She turned her head and saw a man walking toward her with a semi-mad look on his face. If it hadn't been for the curl on his head and the familiar baby-looking face, she wouldn't be able to tell who he was. Once she did see them however…um…

"_**Oh my god FELI-KUUUUN~!"**_

"**GAH!"**

Yeah, five seconds later she's clinging onto him for dear life and was cuddling him like a teddy bear. However, instead of "ve~ing" cutely like he would originally, he was fighting to regain his use of his arms. Confused, she let go, allowing him to move away and grumble to himself.

"_Geez, crazy bastard…"_ He sighed.

"Ah~~~but I thought you liked it when I cuddle you, Feli-kun…"

"**I'm not Feli-kun, or whoever the hell you're talking about, stalker!"** He screamed. "We've never met!"

"NO?" She was surprised. "But then…how in the world do you look so much like Feli-kun?"

"_**WHO THE HELL **_is Feli-kun?"

"Um…Ita-chan! You know, Italy!"

"Wha-? **I'M **Italy!"

"_**But you're not Feli-kun!"**_

"No, I'm not!"

"_**Well then WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"**_

"Romano, dammit! Italy Romano!"

…

"Ohhhhh…" She giggled and rubbed the back of her head. "I thought you were…the other Italy. I think he's named Veneziano?"

"Argh, seriously? You mistake me for my damn brother?" He spat. "God, you're just as dunce as the tomato bastard…"

"Hey, I'm sorry if I was vaguely told that there were more than one Italies running around the school!" She spat back, trying to defend herself. "Who knew you needed more than one guy running a country, eh?"

"You are just horrible, you know that?"

"What? Don't blame me! Look, now that we know that the other one exists…let's tell each other our human names!"

"_**Why would I do that?"**_

"So that I don't forget you, dur~ :D" She laughed. "I'll start! My name's Charice~! I'm the sister of the Philippines~!"

"I thought the Philippines was a freakin' guy!" He stared at her. "That's what I heard!"

"Oh, that's my brother! He's also the Philippines!" She waved her hand to him. "Though he's more of the central island and stuff. But yeah, we're half and half!"

"…" He immediately looked embarrassed. _What was that about?_ "…Lovino."

"…what kind of name is Lovino?"

"N-nothing like Charice, dammit!"

"I know…it's so…foreign." She chirped. _**"I LIKE IT, LOVI-KUN~!"**_

"Say WHAT?"

_***tackle glomp***_

"I like foreign, Lovi-kuuu~~n~ ;D"

"_**IT'S LOVINO!"**_

"Aww…Lovi-kun sounds cuter…"

"_**Will you PLEASE…?"**_

"Ahahaha…there you are!"

The both of them looked up to see a man walking toward them with a tomato basket in his arms. He had semi-curly brown hair and green eyes, yet looked extremely tan. It was those green eyes that made Charice shiver and Lovino sigh, calming her down…somewhat.

"_**God dammit,**_ you took your time you BASTARD…"

"I met up with a couple friends, Lovi~! I'm meeting up with them later after school!" Antonio stared at Charice. "Oh…you got a girlfriend! I'm so jealous, Lovi~!"

"_**SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND~!"**_

"I know. He's such the denying type." She joked. "I think he's better off with you!"

"Are you _**promoting**_ something?"

"Yeah~! **YOU!"**

"My god, you really are insane!"

"Why, thank you~ :D"

"_**THAT'S NOT A GOOD THING, YOU JACKASS!"**_

"No? Awww…"

"_**THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"**_

The argument had been going on for a few minutes before Lovino just gave up trying, making Charice today's winner. Lovino grumbled to himself as he darted out of the way to go toward the tomatoes _(maybe he likes tomatoes more than people?)_ as Antonio walked next to Charice.

"He's a loud man, isn't he?" She stated.

"Yes…that's a common trait for him." He grinned. "He used to be like you, you know."

"What, a colony? Spain, I'm pretty sure that all countries were colonies at some point."

"No, no, no…I mean he was one of my colonies."

She paused.

"And he turned out like that? Wow, I thought he'd be a little more…insane."

"Yeah, well…unlike you and your brother, I've raised that boy with all the love I can give him." She heard him sigh. "I was young back then…I was so obsessed with him that I didn't notice that I was neglecting anyone else of that same love."

"Loving only one person…geez, here I thought you knew how to spread your love around." Charice shrugged. "Guess I was wrong, huh Spain?"

"We were all wrong at one point. And this is the 21st century…you don't have to keep to formalities." He smiled. "Just call me by my human name."

"So…Antonio, then?"

"Yeah…Antonio. Am I allowed to call you Charice?"

"Yeah, you can call me that. I…don't know about my brother, though." She sighed. "He still has the grudge, you know."

"That's Rizal…the past is all that he can focus on."

"I just wish that he can let that go, you know? Focus on the now." She looked at Lovino. "He'll be happier that way."

"That's the thing…I don't think Rizal can ever let go of it. It's the only thing keeping him alive."

Charice looked at Antonio in confusion when Lovino called him over to help him with the tomatoes. She sighed at them as Antonio chirped at Lovino, causing the other to yell at him. As she walked away, she found a card bearing a figure of the moon sticking onto her hand. At the same time, a figure appeared behind her. It was a huge, black dragon. She had to keep herself from screaming.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_Hey, that's Lovino's voice…_

**["AS THE ONE THAT HIDES IN BOTH SHADOWS AND LIGHT, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

The figure vanished from her sight as the card faded from her hand. She looked up at the two of them playing around in the tomatoes and couldn't help but wonder just what kind of secrets any of them could be holding. Then again, would she want to know?

**/=+=/**

**Merlin**** is the famous magician out of the legend of King Arthur. A lot of stories had him as Arthur's faithful advisor, yet a few said that he was actually his biggest enemy. Everyone does agree that he's a powerful sorcerer in his own right. [Arthur Kirkland- Magician]**

**Seth**** is the Egyptian god of chaos and deserts. He's well known for being the one who killed Osiris out of jealousy. Why would I choose this guy for this man…? Well…figure it out yourself~ :D [Lovino Vargas- Moon]**

**Odd enough, you guys have just met one of the next victims~! All I need now is input from you, the reader. Since this is usually a game of input, I'm going to ask you a simple question. What should Charice do in her spare time in the next chapter?**

**- Go harass the Newspaper Club**

**- See if she can hang out with the Music Club again**

**- Jump Antonio again at the tomato gardens**

**Pick wisely! What choice ends up winning out determines who the next victim is and who else might end up getting involved. But most importantly: if certain choices are made, certain characters will end up falling off the list of Charice's potential soul mates. But that's a minor factor, really.**


	7. Her Magical iPod?

**So the choice has been made, I see~! Well then, without further ado…let's go into it, shall we?**

**/= [DAY 10] =/**

Charice stretched her legs out as she found some good running shoes from her closet. Since she's up early for once, she felt that she was more than likely to bump into Ludwig again in his morning training whatever-that-might-be. Heck, she was up for a jog. This time, she was coming prepared.

She looked at the time. 4:28 AM. She had time to stretch.

She jogged herself down the stairs _(jumping on each step for some reason)_ before landing on the ground and jogging out the door. Sure enough, she found herself at the school. Odd enough, she didn't see any of them passing by. Charice shrugged, plugged in her iPod, and then decided to jog around the school on her own.

_Hey, I used to climb around rocky landscapes to get through a city!_ She thought. _I can handle this._

Charice chuckled as she flipped through her iPod. Seeing as how it was charged, she had no problem choosing a song and taking on a pace through the area. Before she knew it, she turned a corner and saw Kiku just straightening himself out from his jog.

_Ah~! Nihon-kun!_ She chirped. _All right then! Maybe I can catch up with him if I-_

The music suddenly stopped on her iPod, confusing her. She pressed the Play button again and was surprised to see that nothing happened. Confused, she pulled out her iPod and saw that the screen indicated that everything was perfectly normal. However, the headphones didn't seem to be loose and the volume seemed to be working quite nicely. Suddenly, as she looked back up to Kiku, music began to play.

"**GAAAH!"** She lowered the volume._ God, that was loud…_

She paused. This wasn't the song that she was listening to earlier, and come to think of it they didn't even share the same artist. Confused, she lifted up her iPod to see the song just as the image of Kiku ran back around the next curve…and stared at the title.

"_Strangers Like Me"…by Phil Collins?_

**/= ["Strangers Like Me" by Phil Collins] =/**

When she was done with her jog, she finally sank back in her seat of the class. Sure, she had a good half hour until the class actually started…but that's beside her. At least her iPod has stopped glitching like mad and continued to play the song that she was originally listening too. Thank god, since she loved this part…

"It is strange to see someone like you in class this early."

She screamed in shock. No, it wasn't because it was Kiku suddenly appearing next to her _(which was freaky enough)_. It was the fact that the minute he started speaking, the damn iPod stopped midsong and immediately went back to the Phil Collins song. Let me tell you that the volume was higher than before.

"I-I'm sorry…did I startle you?"

"No, no…not you. It's my damn iPod." She sighed. "It's been glitching on me the entire morning."

"Really? How so?"

"Well, it would play a song and then suddenly start playing this one song in particular." _Every time you're around. But let's not tell him that._

Kiku looked confused before gesturing toward the iPod. Of course she quickly handed it over, trying to pause the music _(and failing horribly)_. After a few minutes of Kiku listening to it and scrolling on it, he gave it back to her with a confused look on his face.

"Well, I don't understand what the problem is. The iPod is working just fine."

_Say what now?_ "R-really?"

Kiku nodded as he took back the iPod and scrolled to a certain song. He lifted up half the headphones for her to listen to. Unfortunately, she still heard the Phil Collins song even when he looked like to have pressed the Play button. He even looked like he was scrolling down a playlist.

"I love this song…I'm surprised that you have it."

"…yeah…yeah, I know…" _Still hearing Phil Collins, Kiku._

After a while, she just gave up. Obviously her iPod is driving her insane. Maybe it's possessed…in that case, _**god damn **_the freaky other world for driving her electronics to insanity. Not only that, but _**god damn**_ the fact that it freaks out only when Kiku's around.

Maybe Apple's breaking down and crying to Japanese technology?

The world will never know…

**/=+=/**

Once lunchtime rolled around, she looked up and realized that Kiku was gone. She sighed and sat up, pulling out her iPod and surprised to see that it was working perfectly fine. Charice shrugged and placed on another song while plugging it in her ears. God bless the bud headphones…

"Charice."

She jumped and saw Li Xiao standing next to her desk, staring at her with a blank look on his face. Confused, she stood up and fixed her uniform _(it was then that she realized that the uniforms from the __**Europe**__ class and the __**Asia**__ class were different…why was that?)_.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I was wondering if you would like to join me for lunch today."

(O_O)"

"Sure…?" Since when did he have an interest in her that surpassed the other world? "Why…may I ask?"

"I have a feeling that the murderer is going to strike again today. I want the both of us together in case we have to do something immediate."

Oh, OK. The world makes sense again (-_-)'

"Unless you're opting out…in which case I won't blame you."

"I'm not opting out, you know!" She stood up. "Because I'm Asian and I have the will of God on my shoulders! All evil doers will be judged by God's hand~!"

"_Love your enthusiasm…"_

Charice just shrugged as he walked down the stairs and grabbed a box on his desk. As she passed by, she realized that there was one more box on the table. Confused, she picked it up and turned toward a leaving Li Xiao, which of course left her even more confused.

"Hey, you forgot something-!"

"That's your lunch." He answered. "By the looks of things, you forgot yours."

_Son of a…oh right…no food._

She gave up trying to argue and continued to walk after the Chinese man. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Matthew standing there. He gave a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his head and fidgeted with holding a small pack in his hand. A lunch bag, perhaps…?

"_Oh…t-there you two were…here I thought you had already left…"_

"You obviously didn't think that." Li Xiao sighed. "Or else you wouldn't check here first."

"He was obviously passing by." Charice defended. "Duh."

"_Yeah. I was heading toward the lobby…"_

"Wait, you can access the lobby that way?" Her eyes sparkled. _**"Whoa, I never knew…!"**_

Li Xiao just sighed as Matthew led the way of their small walk, explaining to Charice every detail of the walk so that she will do this in the future.

"Ohhh, interesting! Here I thought this just led to the **Europe** hall!"

"_The __**Europe**__ hall leads basically everywhere in the school. I guess it's because they have the most students?"_

"I know! What is that about?" Charice sighed as she scrolled through a new song. "Is it because the European continent refused to get along so they just decided to just split themselves up whenever they felt like it?"

"_Um…I don't know if it works like that, but…I guess?"_

"Geez, no wonder most of the problems started over there…"

"What, you hold a grudge against them or something?"

"Of course not, Li Xiao! I'm stating how semi-lucky we are with having semi-simple history…compared to them, I mean." She grinned. "Think about it: we have two Asians and one Canadian aka What-America-Would-Be-Like-If-France-Took-Over!"

"…that is so true…"

"_A-are you saying that like a bad thing?"_

"Nah, I'm saying it for comedy relief~!"

Oddly enough, it's true…

**/=+=/**

"Ah~! There she is!"

As they looked up from their small picnic, they saw Ludwig and Feliciano walking toward them with a pen and paper. From the corner of her eye, she saw Matthew stare at them with a look of confusion on his face.

"_Um…what are they doing?"_

"_What, you didn't know? They're part of the Newspaper Club!"_ Charice laughed, standing up and taking out one of her headphones. "You needed me?"

"Ve~~we're interviewing countries about September holidays!" Feliciano chirped.

"Yes…we've gotten most of the European countries and just started doing the other ones." Ludwig sighed. He obviously didn't want to do this topic…if this at all. "So we wanted to start with you."

"All right…so you just want holidays that are celebrated in September back in my place?"

"_**If **_you have any." He answered.

"Hm…" She slapped her hands together. "Oh, right! _**Christmas!"**_

She looked up from her realization / remembrance and couldn't help but notice that the others were staring at her with the most shocked look on their faces _(even Big Guy Li Xiao Chun himself…and that's surprising)_. She tilted her head in confusion.

"…what?"

"Um…Charice…" Ludwig walked up to her _(automatically freaking her out)_. "Holidays in **September.****"**

"Yeah, Christmas! We of the Philippines are well known for starting our festivities in September!" She chirped. "I mean, they're not really festivities…it's just the time where the children start caroling and we all set up for all the festivities in December, but really it's all the same~!"

Feliciano and Ludwig looked at each other. They obviously weren't expecting that.

"Oh…god, now I remember what I have to do later! I have to hang up the _parol_ me and Rizal made a few years ago…ah, this year's Christmas is going to be awesome~!" She chirped. "Do you want details?"

"No, I…" Ludwig was obviously confused. "I'm already confused on September Christmas carols…"

"Eh, it's fine. We're the only ones who do that~!" She chirped. _Man, this feels so good._

"Hm…last time I checked, Kiku was part of the Newspaper Club as well…" Li Xiao stood up. "Where's-"

"_**GAH!"**_

Everyone jumped to see Charice jump from her headphones. She mumbled something to herself before pulling out the iPod and staring at the screen. _**And guess what song was playing at that exact moment?**_

…_my GOD. Just the very __**mention**__ of this freakin' name glitches it._

"Um…" Feliciano looked at her. "A-are you all right?"

"Yeah, all's good. Freakin' iPod decided to not care about me anymore." She sighed. "But nothing of your fault."

"Ve~~~"

She sighed as she turned back toward the iPod that was screeching out the Phil Collins song. Suddenly she heard what sounded like static _(on the iPod? Did she download a version like that?)_ before it decided to shut down on her. She began to fume.

"**OH COME ON!** I just charged this damn thing!" She spat. "Ugh…well, someone's out to get me…"

"Shouldn't you just buy a new one?" Ludwig looked at her. "That's an iPod Mini, right?"

"_**IT STILL WORKS…**_until now, I guess…" She sighed. "Oh well. Back to lunch~!"

No one decided to question it, so they decided to eat with her in peace. At least Li Xiao and Feliciano can cook really well. Nonetheless, they had fun.

**/=+=/**

"I. Hate. My. MP3 Player."

"_Don't blame it…maybe it's getting old…"_

"Yeah, but it worked so many times before…" She sighed. "What's with that one mention of Japan and…"

"It plays one song every time Japan is mentioned?"

"Mentioned, in the room, talking to me, anything." She stated. "Really weird. Not to mention the fact that while we were talking, the song seemed to have some form of static and just died on me…"

Li Xiao stared at her as if she said the weirdest thing on the planet. Before she knew it, the song started up again. She jumped in shock before realizing that it was getting louder as she was approaching the doors. Charice quickly followed the sound with the two men behind her until she finally found the loudest part.

"This…is getting weird."

"You don't think?" Li Xiao sighed. "What's going on?"

"The iPod…it's loudest here."

"_I-Isn't this the kendo room?"_ Matthew looked up.

_We had a kendo room? So joining this._

Charice threw the door open and walked into the room, seeing the light peer into the Japanese style windows…

And screamed.

There was a body in the middle of the room, covered with blood. A deep wound was dug into his stomach as if he was sliced open, and another cut was made to the neck, almost to slice his head off. But the body itself wasn't what made Charice scream. No…it was a lot worse than that.

It was Kiku Honda.

**/=+=/**

**Yes, the Philippines are well known for being one of Asia's two most Catholic countries. And we do celebrate Christmas in September! Unfortunately, Filipinos who move to America don't follow that tradition, so…yeah, I'm sorry. You can't see them. But the truth is that the biggest festivities are in December, like the rest of the world. It usually starts a week early with mass at dawn.**

**By the way, for all you American readers: the **_**"parol"**_** mentioned is like a hanging ornament, similar to what you hang on a Christmas tree. The only thing is that they're lanterns made with bamboo and rice paper, and are usually shaped like stars. They're very colorful~!**

**And yeah, plot twist with plot twist! Don't kill me, please. Oh yeah, another note: it's supposed to look like **_**seppuku**_**.**


	8. Kiku Honda's World

**So yeah…dead guy is dead. Please don't hurt me…I'll give you this chapter if you don't DX**

**/=+=/**

"_Oh my god…Kiku…"_

"They…they got to him?" Li Xiao rubbed his forehead. "My god, whoever's doing this is getting oddly bold and creative."

Charice bit her lip. If this is the same murderer who killed Carlos, doesn't that mean that she could touch him and magically reincarnate him to make everything better? Wouldn't that mean that she would have to touch the body? The body…all covered with blood…and scars…and stuff…?

_Way to go, Charice. Now you'll HAVE to do it._

She bit her lip again. Well, she brought it up and now she has to do it, right? After a few more minutes, she walked forward toward Kiku's bloody body, kneeling next to him and hesitantly _(and by hesitantly, she meant it took a few seconds)_ touched him in the stomach.

Nothing.

She touched him again.

Still nothing.

"Uh…does he look reincarnated or whatnot?" She looked up.

"No, he doesn't." Li Xiao leaned next to her. "He's dead, but not reincarnating…"

"Wait, how does that work?" Charice looked up in surprise. "I thought it's automatic when I touch him!"

"_Y-you guys…!"_ Matthew gasped, shocked. _"How in the world can you approach a body like that so casually?"_

"Believe me, it's taking all my energy just to be in the same room as this." She sighed. "But I'm the only one who's able to…um…_**restart**_ the reincarnation process…so I kinda have too…"

"…_Charice…w-what are we going to tell the others?"_

"Well, until we can figure out how we can restart the reincarnation process, telling them is going to start a state of panic." Li Xiao stated.

"Don't tell me you're planning on _**STAYING**_ here until you're sure he reincarnates!"

"_W-why would you do that?"_

"We have to. In order to make sure that we can reverse what happens to him…at least the true death."

Charice looked at the serious look on Li Xiao's face before giving up and turning back to the peaceful look on Kiku's face…despite the fact that he's completely destroyed. Light footsteps echoed from behind her as Matthew walked up toward the body and lightly _(albeit hesitantly)_ touched it.

"…_it's so cold…"_

"Yeah…that's…a dead body." She rubbed the back of her head. What else could she say at a time like this? "They're usually cold…"

Before she knew it, his fingers started to glow. They looked up as Matthew looked at his fingertips and then stood up, walking toward a part of the room and gesturing his fingers as if opening something. Before their eyes, they saw a strange portal-like thing open from his palm. They watched as he slowly pried it open until it was human sized.

"…what just happened?"

"_I…I just opened it up."_ He answered. _"I don't know how, but…"_

"Could this be like the TV set that leads to the other world…?" Li Xiao peeked inside. "They look exactly the same."

"Are you saying that Kiku is in that other realm thing?" Charice was confused. "But he's dead! He's right here!"

"I want to assume that whoever killed him sent his soul into the other realm." Li Xiao turned to her. "You're religious. Wouldn't that be plausible?"

"…I dunno! It's only heaven, hell and purgatory to me." Charice blinked. "Unless _**that's**_ purgatory."

"_So…we have to go back in there?"_

"For Kiku's sake." Li Xiao turned to him. "You don't have to go if you don't have to."

"_But this is for Kiku…I have to go."_ He said, trying to stay brave. _"I am a nation as well…a member of the G8! I have to be brave!"_

"All right…" Li Xiao smiled. "Let's go."

**/= ["Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" by Naruto] =/**

"_W-where are we…?"_

"We're in a realm Kiku created with his memories…" Li Xiao answered. "Everything here is shaped into something he is comfortable with."

Charice looked around to confirm his statements. They were in a dark forest filled with trees and Shinto gates _(torii, if Charice was paying any sort of attention to her International Class)_ with unlit lanterns. As she looked around, she realized that her clothes had changed as well. However, it was a beautiful red kimono…cut to just above her knee. She also had long red socks on and what looks like _geta_ on her feet.

"_**WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"**_ She exclaimed. "Why am I wearing a skirt this short?"

"Maybe we're affected by Kiku's thoughts as well."

Charice looked up to see what they were dressed up as. Li Xiao is in his usual uniform _(son of a lucky bitch)_, while Matthew was dressed in what looked like to be a small Shinto priest uniform…without the hat. It looked nice on his small frame, to say the least.

"_So our outfits are affected by him?"_

"Either that or it's a way of disguising ourselves from the Shadows of this world." Li Xiao stated. "The clothes feel comfortable on me…"

"_They do on me too…that's so odd…"_ Matthew looked at his outfit.

"OK, outfits are awesome…I'm importing them from future Japan later, great." Charice sighed. "Can we please find where Kiku might be before I start getting a little freaked out?"

"The sign hasn't showed up yet." Li Xiao said. "Otherwise, we'll have to wander around looking for one."

"_So…we don't know where we are?"_

"Dude, we didn't know where we were when we fell in." Charice sighed. "Apparently, wandering's bad for us."

"_**Ah…like a true ninja, the man of shadows sees his prey…"**_

"Say what now?"

Everyone turned toward one of the Shinto gates and found a random ninja standing on top of it, wearing stereotypical ninja garbs and posing like one too. And what do you know? The mask was off, and you could clearly see that it was Kiku in the ninja outfit. She could barely see that his eyes were gold…like a Shadow.

"_**And like all victims of a ninja, they will fall upon the swift blade as black as night!"**_ He exclaimed. _**"For we are Asians…and Asians are the most skilled in being hidden by the cloak as black as the other side of the moon…"**_

"…say what now?"

"_**If you are here for my master, then turn around and return to where you have come from."**_ He said. _**"He will never return to you and your wasteful ways. He is staying here…where he belongs."**_

"Bullcrap!" She screamed. "We're bringin' him back!"

"_**He will never return!"**_ He turned around. _**"Believe it!"**_

"Oh, he did _**not**_ just-"

And he was gone, leaving Charice roaring after him in a fit of fury and the boy staring at just what was flying out of her mouth.

"I thought you knew this, dammit! It's not 'believe it', it's _**DATTEBAYO!**_ You hear me? _**DATTEBAYOOOOOO!**__**"**_ She took a deep breath. "His Shadow is so freakin' dead."

"…_I'm scared of her now…"_

"Where's the damn sign already? I want to _**kill**_ that bastard…"

Suddenly, the torches on the Shinto gates flickered on. As they stared at them, it was then that Charice noticed something: one of the gates had blue flames, while the others had the usual red and orange flames. The other two boys looked extremely confused.

"_What's with the torches…? We can't get anywhere if there's no light…"_

"What sign is Kiku trying to give us?" Li Xiao asked as he rubbed his brow.

"I think we go that-a-way." She pointed down a path. "The flames here are blue!"

"Blue?" Li Xiao looked up. "But they're perfectly normal."

"…_**nooo**_...it's blue." She looked back up to the gate. "Whatever. This is probably the sign anyway, since nothing else is showing up! Let's go!"

**/=+=/**

"I can't believe I'm following you."

"I can't believe you can't see the flames." She looked up. "Seriously, they're perfectly blue!"

"_What do you mean by blue? They look like ordinary flames to me."_ Matthew looked up to the gates. _"Are you sure you see blue flames?"_

"As blue as anything else in this world."

Charice continued to lead them down the trail when she realized that one of the flames was a strange purplish color. Just as she wandered closer to it, the flame suddenly flickered out, revealing a strange Shadow that looked like a man bonded with chains. Five more of them appeared around them.

"_Are these…?"_

"Yep." Li Xiao stood back. "Let's go."

**/= ["Between Life and Death" by Chrono Cross] =/**

"Dongbin! Let's go!"

"Here we go, Maguimba~!"

Matthew hung back as he saw the two of them jump in the air and start slashing away the men in chains. It was then that he regretted being unarmed. He turned his head around to hide when he realized that he was looking at a reflection of himself…no…it was his Shadow.

"_It's you…"_

The Shadow nodded. He didn't realize it at first, but he couldn't help but notice that his eyes were no longer glowing gold. What would that mean?

"_I need your help…if you may allow me to ask…"_

The Shadow quickly began to glow, splitting into halves. One of them appeared over his hand, transforming into a rifle. The other one appeared over his head in another form: a young man with long hair and shining white armor, his hands holding a white spear.

"_**Cu Chulainn!"**_

The Persona swung his spear in the air as the wind began to swirl around the Shadows, destroying them. As one of them dodges the attack and charged toward him, Matthew held Cu Chulainn's hand as his Persona fused with his rifle and turned into a spear. He grinned as he stabbed him straight in the head. The Shadow vanished into nothingness.

**/= ["Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" by Naruto] =/**

"Wow, Matthew…that's so cool!" Charice chirped. "Your Persona looks so awesome!"

"_T-thank you, Charice…"_ He blushed. _"But…it's really nothing…yours looks even nicer."_

"Really, it's nothing."

"Save the compliments for later. The longer we stay here, the more the country of Japan suffers without a host." Li Xiao continued to walk. "We need to return his soul to our plane."

"Right, right…" She turned to him. "But still…at least your powers are interesting~! They're so strong and _**awesome!"**_

"_B-but what about you?"_ Mathew asked. _"I mean…you were summoning so many of those things that I couldn't even keep track of them!"_

"Yeah, Charice…what is that?" Li Xiao turned back to her as he walked. "Last time I checked, a person can only have one persona on them."

"_Persona…is that what it's called?"_

"Yeah…and I really don't see how weird that can be." She shrugged. "I mean, think about it. It's just having access to a different power at another time. I can't even use more of them at the same time."

"But you have the option to switch powers." Li Xiao stated. "I don't have that option, and neither does Matthew."

"That's odd…oh well, it's probably because this is Carlos's power." She stated. "Oh well…let's keep going."

**/= ["Prisoners of Fate" by Chrono Cross] =/**

As they continued to walk down the pathway of blue flames and shattering Shadows, they found themselves standing in the middle of a clearing. There were Shinto gates around them, but they were all lit with ordinary flames. Charice turned her head around in confusion.

"Are we in a dead end?" She turned her head.

"_What's wrong?"_ Matthew blinked.

"There're no more blue flames…we're at a dead end." Charice turned around. "But this was the only pathway…"

"Maybe we're lost." Li Xiao sighed. "Thanks a lot, Charice."

"Hey, I'm just trying here!"

The flames were slowly illuminating the middle of the area, showing that there was a small island surrounded by a moat. As Charice approached the water, she couldn't help but notice that there were flowers in the moat. Most of them looked like they had their petals pulled out, while others looked like they were just plucked out and left in the water.

"_What is this…?"_

"I think this is the same as the burnt flags in Matthew's world." Li Xiao stated. "Most of these flowers are pulled…"

"Hm…the daisies and roses are perfectly fine…" Charice blinked. "That's the Italian and English national flower."

"_The rose is the English national flower…? I thought that was France's."_

"I'd think so too…the Internet told me that." She sighed. "But the rest of them are plucked bare…that's weird."

"_**No…it is not weird…it is my master's will."**_

Everyone darted their heads up to see that it was Ninja Kiku standing on top of the small mass of land that was surrounded by water. He turned toward them with his golden eyes, and she could see that they were filled with pain and fear…but of what?

"_**These flowers have harmed my master through the thousands of years that he has been on this Earth."**_ He stated. _**"It was then that I have made it my mission to protect him with my life."**_

"Protect him…the isolation policy that he had followed before?" Li Xiao stepped forward.

"_**He had been forced out because of them…this pain that he has kept hidden even to the mirror…is because of all of those who wish to exploit him."**_ The Shadow spat. _**"He will be safe here…away from all of you."**_

"He will not be safe here. No one is safe here." Li Xiao spat. "He will cease to exist if he stays here."

"_**Maybe that is better for the master…death over manipulation."**_ He turned to Li Xiao. _**"Especially from your brother!"**_

"I thought you knew this: Wang Yao cared for him like a brother!"

"_**No…he had never cared for my master…if you care for him as well, you will stop and return home…"**_ The Shadow readied himself. _**"Otherwise, you will die here!"**_

"Come on, then! Try me! Cause we're not leaving!" Charice readied her poleaxe. "Bring it, Shadow! _**DATTEBAYO!"**_

The Shadow stood up and jumped as the purple fog continued to swarm around him. The fog continued to grow, making an image of a dragon with the head of it being the image of the Shadow Kiku. Charice looked up as the back sprouted at least six different wings and let out a roar that seemed to be a mix of Japan's voice and an actual dragon's roar.

"…is anyone else here thinking of Orochimaru?"

"_Yes, actually…"_

"OK…cause I think we're somewhat screwed here."

**/=+=/**

**Cu Chulainn**** is a legend of Irish mythology about a man who became one of Ireland's best warriors after he accidentally kills a hound dog off and decides that he was going to take his place. [Matthew Williams- Tower]**

**Next chapter coming soon~! You're going to be surprised on how the logics work with nations and not human beings!**


	9. Kiku Honda's Shadow

**Last time on Persona Powers, Charice and the gang are going to battle Japan's evil Shadow! Can they save Japan's soul from damnation and his nation from collapsing? Stay tuned…**

**/= ["****ポケモン****HGSS ****ホウオウ戦****アレンジ****" ****by inago3 **_**(on YouTube)**_**] =/**

"_**I am the Shadow…the true self…"**_ The dragon roared. _**"I serve only my master's will…and that will is for him to stay here!"**_

"Well, too bad! No one gets what they want all the time!" Charice straightened out her poleaxe. "Who's ready, boys?"

"_I-I'm ready…"_

"Let's just make this quick. God knows what damage has already been suffered from him staying here."

"Well, if Carlos spent the whole night without major damages, we have some time!" She grinned. "Let's go-ttebayo~!"

"Oh god…really…?"

The three of them charged toward the fray as Dragon Kiku growled at them. He dodged a slash from the poleaxe and felt a slight pain from the side of the tail. Dragon Kiku looked up and saw Matthew looking up from his position, holding his rifle in hand. The attack continued on for a few good minutes.

"_You're not keeping him here, Shadow!"_ He called out. _"He has to come back to our world!"_

"_**He is not happy that world! He must be happy!"**_

"No one's ever happy in that world, dude!" Charice jumped in the air. "I thought he knew that! I thought _**you**_ knew that!"

"Like a Shadow ever knows anything besides fear and rage, Charice!" Li Xiao corrected. "Hurry up and subdue him!"

Charice summoned her Persona, who slashed through the Shadow's purple cloud body and caused him to cringe. Dragon Kiku turned his head and shot flames toward her, who fell toward the ground in flames. Fortunately, she landed in the water and the flames were taken out. Matthew ran to her as she stood up and shook out the water from her kimono.

"_Are you all right, Charice?"_

"Yeah, I'm fine! Just having burnt skin, but nothing out of the ordinary!" She grinned. "Go to Li Xiao! Let's go!"

They charged back into the fray. Li Xiao summoned Dongbin and tried his best to counter the Dragon Kiku's flames. He ended up slashing him away with his tail. Li Xiao crashed into one of the Shinto gates, and Charice noticed that one of the flames had turned into a light blue.

_That's the blue flame that got us here…_

She finally realized what she had to do. Charice grinned as she lifted her hand out and changed Personas. She crashed the card as Merlin erupted from her hand. He swung his wand around and pulled out the blue flame from the gate. Instead of attacking him, however, the blue flame appeared in front of the dragon.

**/= ["Who Am I?" by Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days] =/**

_["Please…stop this."]_

"…_**Master."**_

Matthew and Li Xiao finally saw how the flame turned into a light blue. The Dragon Kiku hovered over the moat as he turned back to normal, holding the red scarf around his neck. The blue flame floated toward the servant's face.

"_**Are you going back, master?"**_ He asked. _**"But I thought you were hurt constantly in that realm."**_

The flame was silent.

"Everyone's going to get hurt in that realm. There's never anything around it, I'm sorry." Charice corrected. "But if we're all getting hurt, at least all of us can heal from the wounds, right?"

_["I understand all of this now. I was scared of being hurt again…after so many years of isolation, I wasn't prepared for emotional heartbreak."]_ The flame flickered. _["But I realized something…despite the pain that I've suffered, I remember that I have friends that have suffered as well. My friends have their own pains and heartbreak, just like I have."]_

"…_**sensei."**_

Yes, back to Japanese terms!

_["I'm ready to go back now…will you be able to bring me back?"]_

"…_**of course, sensei."**_

The flame sank into the Shadow's body, fusing in with him. The purple fog surrounded him as it turned into a bright blue, and when it vanished from sight, he was back into the child version of Japan. The child looked up and toward the people that were saving him.

…

"No Charice…_**no."**_

"_**NOOOOOOOO I WANNA HOLD HIIIIIM!"**_

**/= ["Revival" by Tales of Symphonia] =/**

"So I'm dead…"

"Yes…you were killed by someone who wanted to make it look like a suicide." Li Xiao turned to Kiku, being held by Matthew. "You weren't reincarnating, so we figured that you would be here."

"So you know what this world is, don't you Li Xiao?"

"…no…but I'm aware that it's connected to the recent murders that are going on." He answered. "You being the most recent victim."

"…you went through all of this for me?"

"That's just how we roll in the 21st Century!" Charice winked. "Countries are never alone. We are all connected, meaning that all of our problems are going to be known and solved."

"_That's right, Kiku…you're never alone."_

Kiku sat there in Matthew's arms as they followed Charice's red string toward the portal that led them home. She turned toward Matthew, who was now holding Kiku's hand. He had grown into his adult form, now wearing a simple gray kimono. He smiled at all of them.

"So this will bring us to our realm." Kiku stated.

"Yeah…and it'll reincarnate you." Charice gestured to it. "That way, your country won't suffer."

"…I just want to know one thing before I reincarnate." The Japanese man turned his head. "What are you planning to tell the others when they see my body?"

"That you reincarnated. Most likely Wang Yao and Alfred _(that American nutjob)_ will go there and find you." Li Xiao stated. "They'll raise you as older brothers and your country will be born anew. Maybe a Renaissance period is a better term."

"Yeah! Like a new anime that sweeps the nation and destroys 4Kids!" Charice chirped. "Or maybe you'll invent a computer that makes Apple Inc. Cry!"

"…I'm glad that you all feel so happy about this. I think I can leave my old life knowing that I am going to be in good hands." Kiku smiled. "I just wish that I will remember you when I take a new body."

"_Maybe you will. Reincarnations sometimes have memories of their former selves."_ Matthew smiled. _"If not, then we can start over."_

"Yes…I would like that." He smiled. "Well then…I guess I should get going. I will see you soon?"

"Let's hope so!" Charice chuckled.

Kiku smiled before walking toward the portal, turning to the others before returning to his realm. Matthew nodded before joining suit, leaving Li Xiao and Charice alone. The Chinese man turned to the Filipina with a semi-worried look on his face.

"How will sensei handle Kiku's reincarnation?" He asked.

"Well, he'll know that Kiku is safe in another body and most likely go to find him." Charice chuckled. "You don't have to worry about it yet."

"…hopefully."

Li Xiao nodded as he turned toward the portal. Before she knew it, she felt a card in her hand and took a glance at it. It was the same card that Li Xiao had whenever he summoned his Persona, so she figured they were one and the same. She could see a faint blue glow around the Chinese man before he stepped into the portal. She turned around and saw a strange blue angel with a conch shell in his hands. She blinked.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_It's Li Xiao's voice…_

**["AS THE MOST POWERFUL OF THE TENGU TRIBE, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

It sank into her body, allowing her to turn back toward the portal.

**/=+=/**

As she walked through the portal, she saw that it closed behind her. They were back in the dojo, staring at Japan's body in the middle of the room. The strange thing was that the body had been cleaned of any scars or blood. Did someone clean him while they were gone…?

"Um…at least holding him isn't going to be that hard of a mental issue…" Charice blinked.

"_But it makes explaining that Kiku is dead even harder…"_ Matthew looked at them. _"Now what…?"_

"Well, I guess I'm going to have to lock together the reincarnation process…" She rolled up her sleeves. "The lack of blood all over his uniform helps me a lot!"

She grinned before walking toward his body and tapping him in the stomach. No response. Confused, she tapped him again. And again. Still no response. Charice got confused and leaned close to Kiku's face. Maybe she had to hold his forehead?

"_**Gah!"**_

"_**GYAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

She flew into the air and started crawling back to hide behind Matthew's legs. Everyone else watched as the body that was supposed to be dead jerk itself up into a sitting position and take long, deep breaths in surprise. It looked at its hands in surprise before turning back to them. Confused, brown eyes looked toward the Chinese man, who tilted his head.

"Hey, Kiku…the reincarnation office called." He sighed. "You're in the wrong body."

"…which body?"

"Your old one…the dead one."

**/=+=/**

School had ended without that much of a hitch besides the fact that Kiku had died just a few hours ago, and everyone agreed that they were going to explain everything to him in the **Asia** class. Kiku looked down at his desk as the rest of the class left the room, passing a semi-invisible Matthew pushing toward Kiku's desk. Charice leaned on her desk as Li Xiao and Matthew joined them.

"Are you doing OK?" Li Xiao asked.

"Yes…yes, I'm doing fine." Kiku sat up, his hands hiding underneath the desk. "Thank you all for helping me."

"It's fine. We were in the right place at the right time." Charice smiled. "Besides, we were worried about you."

"That's good to hear…" Kiku looked around. "So…what's going on?"

They all agreed that Li Xiao was going to explain everything to him. He talked about the Persona they were using and the Shadows that they were fighting, and then went to go on talking about the world that he had fallen into. He seemed to accent the fact that Kiku himself created the realm that he fell upon.

"So that place…was what I created?" He blinked. "With what?"

"Your thoughts, emotions and memories." Li Xiao stated. "Most importantly, the thoughts that you hide from the world."

"My thoughts…"

"All of them. The ones that wanted to bring you home had led us to where you were and saved you." He stated. "If you hadn't interfered like you did, that Shadow would've destroyed us."

"Come on, Li Xiao! We could've handled him!" Charice grumbled.

"Thank you, Charice…but it's all right." Kiku smiled and turned to the others. "I'm guessing you want some answers to what you saw in that world."

"_Y-you don't have to, if you don't want to."_

"No, it's fine. I owe that much to all of you…since one of you used to be a POW of mine." He smiled toward Charice. "Charice, do you know of my history?"

"A little bit. You used to go under an isolation policy because you don't want your culture influenced and tainted by the Western nations." She answered. "You were forced open into Western trade by America around the 1800s…something about battleships?"

"Yes…" Kiku smiled. "After separating from China, I declared that I no longer wanted that heartbreak. I couldn't handle it anymore. I feared getting close to anyone in the fear that I was going to be forced against them."

"Like World War II?"

"…the ultimate emotional rollercoaster ride." Kiku turned his head to the others. "The war that affected everyone here."

"_The beginning of the 20__th__ Century…."_ Matthew blinked. _"The war that almost killed Germany…"_

Charice froze. World War II almost killed Germany? How come no one ever told her that? She rubbed the back of her head, wondering if she had been blocked by that fact because she had never met him before.

"Alfred told me that when he visited me…I had never been so scared for him in my life." Kiku sighed. "It wasn't until the 1990s that I finally learned that he was all right. After that, the 21st Century came around…and to tell you the truth, I think the world changed for the better then…"

"It has~!" Charice chirped. "All the nations seem to get along, right?"

"Yes…" Kiku smiled. "So then…these murders will keep going?"

"Of course. Until we find out who's doing this, they'll keep going." Li Xiao stated. "The three of us are trying to find out who's doing this."

"_**AND KICK THEIR ASSES!"**_ Charice chirped.

"At least there are people on this case." Kiku stood up. "Is there something I can do to help? I have seen this realm with my own eyes…so I know what I can do when another victim is found."

"_The more the merrier, I guess?"_ Matthew asked. _"But can you handle all of this? I mean, going into that realm does a lot to you…"_

"I can handle it. I'm the oldest one here." Kiku smiled.

"So I guess we can accept you." Charice winked. "Welcome to the club!"

**/=+=/**

Charice closed the curtains to her dorm room as she finished the insta-ramen that she made for her dinner. As she plopped down on the couch with her ramen, she heard a knock on her door. She blinked in confusion before standing up and walking toward the door. She peeked in the peephole.

…_Doitsu-ki?_ She opened the door. "Hey there…Germany. What are you doing here?"

"I was told that you were the one that found Japan today." He said. "We'd been looking for him for quite some time. Where was he?"

"He was…wandering around in the school. I found him in the kendo room practicing his skills." She gestured with her fingers. "He says he's sorry if you were worried for him."

"That's fine…I'm just happy that he's all right."

She was surprised to see a serious look on his face. Not because his face never had a look besides…seriousness, but it was because she had never seen such a look of concern on his face. Germany quickly snapped out of it and turned to her.

"Oh, um…" She blinked. "You want dinner?"

"No, it's fine. I'm meeting up with my brother for a study session." He stated. "But thank you for your offer."

"All right…I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Germany nodded as he walked away, allowing her to close the door. As she lifted her hand, she realized that there was a card in her hand. It was a door with a skull on it, and she shivered at the image of it. The skull had hollow eyes, staring deep into her soul.

_So Doitsu-ki has a card attached to him too…_ She shivered. _God…what kind of creepy, death-dealing, destructive Persona does THIS one have?_

She turned her head around and saw…nothing. Confused, she walked into her living room…and then the kitchen…and then her bedroom…and then turned around and headed back to the door. She opened the door to see if there was something there. She closed the door in confusion.

_No Persona?_ She was confused. _Doitsu-ki doesn't have a Persona?_

Well, that's a new concept.

**/=+=/**

**Kurama Tengu**** is a member of the Japanese Tengu race that can fend off evil spirits and bring good luck. The conch shell is there to call Tengu together. [Li Xiao Chun- Hermit]**

**OK, we're going to have a bit more filler episodes before our next segment. That means that I'm giving you another option! Now then…what should Charice do on that fateful day of the next victim:**

**-Jump Antonio in the Gardens**

**-Visit the library and see if Arthur is there**

**-See if she can be part of the Music Club**

**There will be more options as the filler episodes go on, so you can change your options, but don't multi-vote~!**


	10. Persona, Shadows and Social Links

**Filler episode, ladies and gents~! More options for the fateful day, so let's see what's going on next!**

**EDIT: While I was writing this chapter, an 8.9 earthquake hit the Northeastern part of Japan, sending tsunamis throughout the Pacific Ocean. The death toll in Japan as of 3/15/2011 is estimated to be at least 34,000. Please pray for the people that have lost their lives in this natural disaster, and help the international aid assist the living with anything you can. In the 21****st**** Century, no one is ever alone. With your help, you can tell Japan that he has the world at his back.**

**/= [Day 15] =/**

Charice walked toward the **Asia** class in the morning, stretching her arms and legs with her Asian uniform. She chuckled and looked around, seeing that she was the only one in the area. The Filipina chirped as she skipped down the halls looking at all the details of the walls.

_I heard that Doitsu-ki was the one who made this building._ She thought. _That's so cool…did he take forever to make it?_

She immediately began to think about Germany and the Persona card that she had when they interacted. Unlike any other cards she had, he didn't get any when it was formed. What would that mean, anyway? She had formed a connection with Li Xiao when they were in Kiku's world, but she had a Persona attached to that one as well. What made Germany any different…?

"Hey~! Who's the hot broad in the **Asia** uniform?"

Charice blinked. Who in the world was that man talking to? She was alone, but there was no way he was talking about her. As she turned her head around, she saw an albino man staring at her with a strange grin on his face. She tilted her head.

"Are…you talking to me?"

"Of course I am, girl~!" He grinned. "You're just about the sweetest looking girl I have ever seen!"

"Oh…thanks…" She blushed. She'd never been complimented before. "I'm Charice, the Outer Islands of the Republic of the Philippines. Who are you?"

"You may call me Gilbert…the Kingdom of Prussia." He winked. "What do you think? Sinking deep in my awesomeness yet?"

She froze. What was his _**accent?**_ It sounded German, but then there were parts of Russian in it…and Swiss? She had no idea what accent it was. That's when she realized what country _(well, __kingdom__)_ he represents. She tilted her head and pointed at him.

"I thought Prussia was dissolved after World War II." She answered.

"…that's just how _**awesome**_ I am. I'm still alive after that." Gilbert winked. "Are you surprised at my awesomeness?"

"…you're German, aren't you?"

"Ah, you know bruder, don't you?" He grinned. "Doesn't he make me that much more awesome?"

"…it's the other way around."

That made the man pout and turn his head away. Maybe Charice said something wrong? Well, she was only telling the truth. What was she going to do about it? She had her own issues. She turned around and folded her arms.

"Sorry, it's just that being albino makes me wonder how that makes you awesome." She stated. "Or is that an _'in spite of'_ statement?"

"Ah, so you are just confused on how my awesomeness works!" He pointed at himself. "The awesome need no explanations."

"Well then, I'm not awesome, hence I _**do**_ need an explanation." She grinned. "Explain, please."

"Of course, of course…" He winked. "Because I have _**five meters."**_

"…five…meters?"

"Five meters." He grinned. "Take a guess where."

She cringed at that statement before realizing that she could take this to her advantage…somehow. She grinned back at the albino.

"Oh…I have a good guess."

_***DING!***_

"So was I right?"

He squeaked before muttering something in German. She decided that it was probably something that she shouldn't be repeating out loud. But then again, as he stood up, the fact that he didn't curse her out or started running away in fear meant that he had some form of dignity to him. Charice grinned.

"You have a German backbone on you!" She chirped.

"…_you…are crazy."_

"Yeah, basically." She shrugged. "But I just know how to defend myself. Blame it on my brother."

"…not bad…" He straightened himself slowly. "Charice, of the Outer Islands of the Republic of the Philippines. I underestimated a country not of the G8."

"Likewise…" She paused. "Gilbert, the Kingdom of Prussia. Now are you going to be late for class?"

"Like I need a class!"

"But you're here. So I'm assuming that you do."

"Fine, fine…being the Asian that you are, you won't take no for an answer, huh?"

"Nope. Unless you want to shrink those five meters a little more-"

"I'm going, geez!" He turned around and grinned. "You have to be the most interesting person in this school, you know that?"

Charice shrugged as he walked away. She only did that because he was getting extremely annoying and had secretly vowed to hit a guy where it hurts when he rubs a joke like that. She turned around and shrugged again when she saw a card in her hand. She could not believe her eyes _(he was important?)_ as she turned around and saw what looked like a blond man with a red chest plate and blank eyes.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_OK, this is the first time that the voice of a person suits this guy._

**["AS THE MAN THAT SLAIN THE MIGHT DRAGON, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

She blinked as the card sank into her body. After a few minutes of staring at her hand and then her arm, she shrugged. She was going to find Arthur in the library during lunchtime, and seeing if his vast knowledge of the magic arts _**somehow**_ involve whatever the hell this was.

**/=+=/**

Of course, lunchtime rolled around, and Charice found herself prancing toward the library. She slowly opened the door, happy to see that Arthur was standing in the middle of the room scanning books in the fiction section _(geez, who knew?)_. The door closed behind her, alerting him to her presence.

"You again?" He blinked.

"Yes, unfortunately." She grinned. "Lacking breasts and everything~!"

That statement made him blush and turn away. Ah, such an English gentleman.

"D-don't make statements like that!" He stammered. "It'll give people the wrong idea about you!"

"…all right. I was just trying to make a joke." She shrugged with a grin. "Actually, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to ask you a question."

"A question?" He looked confused. "But we don't share any classes with each other."

"No no no, that's not what I meant. I mean it's something…_**mystical**_ and stuff like that, and I had a feeling that this was up in your alley." She sat down. "It's a new subject that I looked up, so…I might not know how to describe it in good detail."

"…all right." He sat down, doubt in his eyes. "What did you want to talk about?"

"OK, um…" She leaned forward. "Remember when I asked you about the tarot cards?"

"…yes, I remember. It was a weird question." Arthur answered.

"OK then…well, I heard this going around and stuff, so…" She pointed at the ground. "Have you ever heard of _spirits_ being connected to the tarot cards?"

He looked extremely shocked, like she just hit the jackpot of information.

"Like famous legends and magical beings and stuff like that stuck onto the tarot cards?" She continued. "And how breaking them brings them out or something?"

The shocked look stayed on his face. She shook her hand in front of him. He blinked.

"W-what makes you think that something like that exists?" He asked, confused.

Charice sat there in a blank state. Should she tell him and risk the poor boy having a mental breakdown? After a few seconds, she decided to let the secret out. She pulled out her hand and a Magician card came out of her palm. Arthur's reaction was surprisingly blank, but there was shock in his face.

"…yeah…um, yeah." She sighed. "That's why."

"…_I can't believe that it exists…"_

"…what exists?"

"That." Arthur pointed at the card. "Persona."

"…Persona? You know what that is?" She blinked. "What is it?"

"Simply put, a Persona is the same as the definition: a part of yourself that represents a certain factor of your soul." Arthur stood up. "Usually they represent the darkest secrets that have been accepted and learned from."

Charice looked out the window and remembered Matthew and Kiku in their realms, how their Shadows that had attacked them had done it for personal reasons…

"_**Why should I go back there? No one loves me anymore! And with Carlos gone, who's going to be there for me?"**_

"_**He had been forced out because of them…this pain that he has kept hidden even to the mirror…is because of all of those who wish to exploit him."**_

"Hey, Arthur...are Personas Shadows?"

"So you know what a Shadow is?" Arthur blinked in surprise.

"A basic understanding of them." She answered. "But I just wanted to figure out if they're one and the same."

"Well, before you can make any form of conclusion, you have to know what a Shadow is." He pointed at the table. "A Shadow is a manifestation of a thought, whether it comes from a grown old man or a young baby. The weaker thoughts and secrets are translated into smaller Shadows. The deeper thoughts are the bigger and more dangerous ones…some of the strongest Shadows can even take on the form of the person who created it."

"So Personas are Shadows…"

"Yes. Everyone has secrets that they don't want to tell people, and hiding them end up creating a conflict in their minds that end up amplifying the Shadow that it creates." Arthur stated. "But when that secret is faced and accepted, that Shadow is considered _**tamed**_, and reformed into a Persona that wields specific abilities depending on the secret that it represented."

"OK…" She nodded. "So what do the tarot cards have anything to do with it?"

"The tarot card houses the Persona of a person, the same way Shadows are hidden in the other world." Arthur leaned forward. "The only way that you would know about Persona and Shadows is that you were in the other world."

"So the tarot cards are summoning gems!"

"…something like that." He sighed. "Every Persona is unique to a human."

"Wait, what about me? I have like, six or seven of them."

Arthur's eyes widened at the statement, allowing Charice to summon all her cards. He stared at them for a few minutes before leaning back in his chair with a surprised look on his face. Charice hid them all in a look of confusion.

"You're a special case, Charice…a Wild Card."

"A Wild Card? What is that?"

"A person who's a representation of the Fool Arcana." Arthur pointed at the image in a nearby tarot book _(wherever the hell it came from)_. "A card of infinite possibilities. Wild Cards usually stem from people who have come to terms with inner conflicts of the past or hold strength in themselves that can influence others."

Charice wondered which one she centered around. She didn't think that it could be the second choice, but what would count as the first choice? She did forgive many of the nations for what they have done to her and her brother. But what would that mean?

"But a Wild Card starts off noticeably weaker than others with their own Arcana, mainly because Persona gather their powers from secrets. Since Wild Cards have already resolved conflicts, their Persona are generally weaker." He folded his legs. "They can be stronger through something called Social Links."

"…say what again?"

"Social Links. It's when Wild Cards interact with people of different Arcana. In my case, you are interacting with a Magician…if what card you showed me was correct." Arthur stated. "In your case, the Persona in your soul gains strength as you resolve conflict, whether inside or out. In your case, you'll have to help other people with their problems."

_So play the psychiatrist?_ How does this work again?

"Does that mean you have a problem?"

"Nothing too big. I just need help sorting out the library." Arthur stood up. "That might help you in your…troubles, I guess."

"Wait, you're not going to question all this?" Charice blinked. "Like, how I know all this?"

"All I know now is that you have a power and that you need to control it." He answered. "Thankfully, I know things about Persona. You can come to me if you have questions about your abilities."

"Actually, I have one." She stood up. "I have one Social Link, and it's…different from the others."

"Different?"

"Well, all the Social Links that I have had a Persona attached to them." She started. "But this one…one Social Link…they don't have a Persona."

"No Persona?" Arthur cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah…the person I met didn't have a Persona attached." Charice didn't want to say the name. "What would that mean?"

"Well…two things. This man either has a good mental barrier to hold back his problems, which isn't possible unless he has a Persona of his own, or…" He turned around. "He has none."

"No…what?"

"No problems."

He turned around and left her at the table, wondering which one of those options it could possibly be.

**/=+=/**

**Siegfried**** is a man made famous in a German poem called **_**Nibelungenlied**_**. It states his story of his quest to kill the dragon named Fafnir and how bathing in his blood gave him invulnerability. However, like Troy, a leaf stuck on his shoulder to give him a weak spot. [Gilbert Beillschmidt - Strength]**

**OK, so there's another option on the fatal day board! I'll list them all down:**

**-Jump Antonio in the gardens**

**-Work in the library with Arthur **_**(who as you might've guessed is going to play the Igor of the fic)**_

**-Try getting into the music club**

**-Find Gilbert to harass him a little more**

**-Study in the hallways with Kiku**

**I'll just say this right now. Even though Charice has a Social Link with people, it doesn't mean that they can't be next victims. ANYONE IS VULNERABLE!**


	11. A German's Secret?

**Here we go, another filler episode. Cause Social Links are the only way we can run this game~!**

**/= [DAY 16] =/**

Charice stretched herself as she stood up from her seat and walked out of the **Asia** class. She was supposed to work on her Science project that was due two weeks from now, but after a while…she gave up and deciding to think about something else. How about Persona?

She shrugged. The incident that she had with Arthur yesterday was annoying her to say the least. What would he mean that he has a good mental barrier or that he had no secrets to hide? Charice sat down in the garden underneath the tree and stared out into the sky. Sure, if she thought about it, Ludwig had his share of problems didn't he? Two World Wars that apparently almost killed him, separated from his brother for twenty eight years, the cutest Italian in the world stalking him, hell what **WOULDN'T** be wrong with him?

But the only difference was that everyone knew his issues. Last time she checked, a nation's problems dealt with issues with another guy in secrecy. Unless Ludwig was secretly planning to chop Alfred's head off with a bone saw for revenge on the World Wars, what else could possibly be his problem?

Maybe he just doesn't want to admit that he's secretly and totally gay for Feli-chan.

OK, _**that's**_ getting somewhere.

"Charice?"

She stood up and _what did you know_, it's Ludwig in all his Germanness. She shivered at that _(phobia with Germans sucks)_ before deciding that she didn't want to think about it. Charice nodded and stood up, straightening out her uniform to look a little bit presentable.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "I thought you'd be indoors."

…_why?_ "I decided to go for a walk." She answered. "I like the outdoors. You?"

"I'm studying." That somehow made no sense for her. "I have a test in two days."

"…interesting." Charice blinked. "Then again, what's so bad about studying?"

"Kiku told me that the **Asia** class had a test in two days as well. Shouldn't you be studying?"

"…I'm fine with it." _It's math and simple Algebra. What's so bad about that?_ "I can ace it."

"Overconfidence is going to be your downfall, Charice."

_Someone tell you that during the Second World War?_ "I study at night, Doitsu-ki."

"…fine. I'm not in charge of you."

"But you're in charge of Feli-chan."

"That's because he can't handle anything by himself." Ludwig leaned against the tree. "It's stressful most of the time."

"Then why do you keep doing it?" She leaned against the tree next to him. "You should tell Feli-chan to at least attempt to handle himself. I mean, he's part of the G8."

"You don't think I've tried?"

"…would I be asking you that if I knew that answer?"

"…I've tried. He still can't do anything, and as a result he's been clinging onto me ever since."

"_And looking cuter by the minute."_

"Did you say something?"

"No, nothing." She grinned. "But by the look of it, you're not annoyed by it huh?"

"After a few years, you get used to it." He sighed. "Think about it, he's happy as he is now. So why bother going into it?"

Charice folded her arms and nodded as she absorbed the information into her brain. Ludwig had a strange tone of voice when he was talking about Feliciano. Would that mean that he could be jealous of the Italian because of his oblivious personality and the fact that no one can hate him even though he was on his side during the Second World War? Hm…that sounds like a deep secret that reeks of Persona. But no, that can't be it…

"Charice, can I ask you a question?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Where did you get that sun pin in your hair?"

"Oh, this? I got it when I was a child." She grinned. "I can't remember who gave it to me, though…I have a feeling it was a human, so I'm trying to remember them…"

"A memento of the past…"

It was then that she noticed that he was mumbling something to himself in German _(so much for finding out what he was saying)_. Charice, being the otaku-turned fanwriter that she is, leaned in closer to him in order to hear what he was saying.

"You OK?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine." He rubbed his forehead. "Just something that I was thinking about."

_Oh no, really?_ "Another test?"

"No, it's something else…something small."

"Something…small?" She blinked. "And this is coming from me mentioning a sun pin?"

"…you mentioned how it came from the past, and I just remembered being raised by Gilbert."

Gilbert…Gilbert…Gilbert…who was that guy again?

…

_**HOLY CRAP!**_

"Oh, do you know who I'm talking about?"

"Yeah…" _Unfortunately._

"He's annoying, but he was the only family I had." He shook his head. "An older brother figure, in a way."

"Wait…I thought you had a bigger family or something. Because you're in Europe, you'd have relatives or something."

"Wish I knew."

Wait a minute.

What did he just say?

"…what?"

"The only relative I know is Gilbert." He answered. "I think I was 12 or 13 at that time."

"And what about the time between age 0 – 12?"

"…I don't know." Ludwig shrugged. "But I was created when my nation was already financially stable, which I guess explains why I don't have a childhood."

Charice stood there for a few minutes, sinking everything in her head. So Ludwig doesn't remember his childhood at all. Arthur's words suddenly appeared in her head: **"This man either has a good mental barrier to hold back his problems…or he has none."**

No problems…like problems he didn't know he had? Like…amnesia?

…

Does that count as a loophole or was she over thinking this?

Curse her imagination.

"You don't make any sense, Ludwig. A nation can't be created when a country is financially stable." She blinked.

"I guess I'm just a special case."

A special case. When she talked to Antonio back during her colonization days, he had used those words when he was talking about Rizal. Was it just her, or did Ludwig and her brother share some really strange similarities? Or was she reaching her inner psychologist again? Oh well.

"Well…I don't get what you're saying, so I guess I can keep this a secret." Charice shrugged.

"It's fine. It doesn't bother me that much anymore." Ludwig stated.

It was then that the bell started ringing. She jumped at the shock of the bell before she and the German started dashing toward their classes.

**/= [DAY 18] =/**

During her walk down the hallway, she found herself listening to her new groovy song that she downloaded from the internet _(God bless YouTube to MP3 websites)_. She started shimmying down the hall, making her suddenly in the mood to go back to that Music Club she bumped into god knows how long ago.

"In fact…let's go there now!"

She dashed down toward the Music Club and heard familiar instruments ringing in the air. She didn't bother to knock on the door as she threw the door open and waved to all of them with a grin on her face. Irunya waved back, but Roderich didn't look that happy. It was then that she realized that Lovino was there as well. He turned around and sighed.

"Oh god, you're part of this too?"

"No, of course not! I wanted to drop by, Lovi-kun!"

"It's Lovino_._"

"Sure, whatever. Anyway, how are you guys?"

"We're doing great, Charice. Thanks for asking." Eduard smiled, fixing around the instruments. "In fact, we have been asked to be in the band for our school musical."

"School…musical?" They actually do something like that to get ordinary people to watch this? "Who's running it?"

"Francis~! He's the one who chose it!" Irunya smiled. "He asked me to be the drum section!"

_I bet he did._ "What's the show?"

"Les Miserables, if I remember him telling me correctly." Roderich sighed at the piano. "Unfortunately, he's also asked that I audition for the show."

"…you can act, bastard?"

"That's what they assume. And please don't call me that, Lovino." Roderich stated simply, looking away from him.

"Cool…a musical…hey, maybe I should audition for that show…" Charice grinned.

"You might have too. The whole school is going to run it." Roderich said to her. "Everyone's going to have a hand in the show."

"Oh, that's cool! I always wanted to work in a play!" She swooned. "Especially an opera like this."

"But Charice…" Irunya blinked. "It's a musical-"

"No one talks, they all sing, it's an opera." Charice pointed.

"Can you sing?" Roderich asked.

Charice grinned at him before belting out the first few verses of "I Dreamed a Dream" as clearly as she could. Nonetheless, when she stopped, the others were staring at her as if she just pulled magic out of thin air. She sank in her awesomeness for a few minutes.

"That's the Asian blood in me." She answered.

"…that wasn't bad." Lovino sighed. "But you're not getting lead."

"Of course I won't! Does it look like I have the boobs to do so?" Charice asked, grabbed her chest and shocking the men in the room.

"C-Charice!" Roderich blinked. "Don't you have a sense of decency?"

"Of course I do! Otherwise I would've flashed you." She sighed. "I mean, seriously…the uniform is the only indication that I'm a female right now."

"…anyway…" Eduard sighed. "The auditions for the show are supposed to be tomorrow, so from what I heard you should go to the auditorium in the South Wing if you want to get in."

"Thank you, Eduard~!" She winked at Lovino. "You're going to be there, right?"

"W-w-_**wha-?"**_ He blinked. "What makes you think that I'm going to be there at that stupid audition?"

"Cause you're Italian~! And all Italians have drop dead sexy singing voices!"

"Why don't _**YOU**_ drop dead, witch?"

"Audition at the show and I might just!"

"_**DAMMIT WOMAN I OUGHTA-!"**_

"_That's strange…I thought Lovino had respect around women. Maybe Charice is a man."_

"_Don't think too deep into this, Irunya."_

**/=+=/**

**For those of you who hone into characters with good singing voices and suddenly associate them with Mary Sues **_**(I've seen those people before)**_**, let me state to you that Charice's good singing voice is a homage to the singer whose name she has taken and also…well, all the main characters in Hetalia can sing anyway. This is basically canon!**

**Well, the next chapter is going to be auditions, so I won't give you an option on what to choose on the fateful day today. I will, however, tell you to ask me which characters that she should meet in the auditions. If a character gets a Social Link slot **_**(as preordained in the Persona game canon)**_**, you're guaranteed a slot in this story as well as the chance to get main character status :D**

**Oh yeah, you're also free to mention any OC pairings that you think Charice might be good with.**


	12. At the Auditions

**As I promised, this is the audition chapter. This is basically going to be the entire day, so if you're trying to skim through filler you may wanna pass on this chapter. Anyway, back into Persona filler! Oh yeah, if you don't know the show ****Les Miserables****, then have a look at it. It's a good show, and my school did it a year ago.**

**/= [DAY 19] =/**

"Oh wow…Lovino actually showed up!"

"_Shut up, I'm only here because of Antonio…"_

Charice laughed as she turned her head around to the people in the auditorium. As she walked in, she had to admit that she felt extremely _**small**_ and _**unwanted.**_ Her eyes scanned around the place for familiar faces and couldn't help but notice Kiku just locking eye contact with her. He waved as she jumped over to him.

"Hey, I didn't know you were auditioning!" She chirped.

"I'm not. I'm co-directing with Francis." He answered. "He asked me to be here in case he needed my help."

"…but I thought you can _**sing!"**_

"Not well, I'm afraid. Opera songs aren't good for my voice."

_Lies and infinite slander._ "Well, you're in the show anyway so…"

"Do you know anything about Les Miserables, Charice?"

"Um…only that a Filipina was in it!" She chirped. "And she was hence the best character on the show."

"You know a little bit. But if you're going to be in the show, you're going to have to know the story." Kiku sat down. "Well, this all begins during the French Revolution-"

"Everyone's going to die, aren't they?"

"Yes, but you want to know the details about it. So the show is about a man named Jean Valjean who is running away from a cop named Javert that wants him back in jail because he missed a trial for his yellow slip. Meanwhile he meets a woman named Fantine where on her deathbed proclaims that he will care for her child Cosette, who is being raised by two greedy innkeepers and their daughter Eponine-"

"They're French, so it's OK."

"True. Anyway, Valjean finds out and takes her away, raising her. A few years later you meet a man named Marius and find out that Eponine is infatuated with him for a few years. However, when he first bumps into Cosette, it's love at first sight."

"Again, he's French, so it's OK."

"Good thing Francis can't hear you. Well, a few things happen and Marius joins the rebellion against French police officers and ends up being the only survivor at the barricade because Valjean finds out of their love and goes to save him. In the end, Marius and Cosette get married while Valjean dies happily, knowing that his job is complete."

"…while Eponine is still alive?"

"No, she dies at the barricade. And most of the songs they sing are about God saving them or being in charge of their fate."

"…their God must either be French or German." Charice grinned. "Pretty epic sounding show."

"It is. In fact, it's been played in different languages." Kiku stated. "We all decided that since it's one of the top universal languages, we'll play the English translation of the musical."

"Good. All I can read is English and Filipino." She chuckled.

Before she knew it, she heard a clapping sound. She turned her head and saw a blond man in a **Europe** uniform walk on the stage holding a rose in his hand and a simple look on his face. He had strange chin stubble on his face, making him look a lot older than what she was used to with the other nations. Maybe that was Francis…

"Welcome, welcome all of you to today's auditions." He stated _(yep, French)_. "I assume all of you are here to be an actual actor on the stage? Of course you all are!"

She could've sworn that she heard someone's yelling in the back of the room being muffled.

"Well then, let's not hesitate any more of your time. We're going to start with a few minutes of reviewing your audition songs. The music sheets are at my feet right here. Feel free to practice your voices as well as reading the synopsis that Kiku was nice enough to type up next to it."

Charice shrugged as she walked up to the stage to grab her music sheets. It was then that she realized that she couldn't read music and hence had no idea what the hell the song was tuned up to. Next to her, she saw a familiar regal-looking young man grabbing his sheets as well.

"Ah…so you came after all, Roderich."

"I figured that I might as well, if the whole school is going to be involved." He sighed. "Do you even know what you're reading from these sheets?"

_Not a single freakin' clue._ "I can manage."

As she strayed away from the man, she could hear people slowly auditioning their songs from the sides of the auditorium. Charice honed her ears on them as she sat down and leafed through the pages in order to figure out which songs they were singing. Trying to catch up is hard. It was then that she realized that there was someone sitting next to her. She looked up and saw someone muttering the songs to himself.

"Oh hi there, Matthew! I didn't see you there!"

"_Hm? Oh…Charice, hi."_ He blushed. _"I didn't see you there either."_

"…no comment. Anyway, I didn't know you were auditioning!"

"_I thought I might as well…since everyone else is. Plus, I know all about the show and love it quite fondly…"_ Matthew smiled. _"I'm not expecting a big role, but I would like to sing at least."_

"In front of all these people?"

"_I-I have to sing in front of everyone? I-I thought we were going in individual rooms!"_

Oh. Shit.

"B-but I don't know how any auditions work around these parts, so don't take my word for it!"

"…_it's OK, Charice. Thank you for worrying about me."_

"No, no…the pleasure's mine!"

Matthew nodded as he turned himself back to his music for some more reviewing. She turned back to her music sheets to bullshit reading when she noticed that a card was stuck between her thumb and her paper. It looked like a tower was falling in on itself. She lowered her hand and saw a man wearing traditional samurai armor _(not just the robes, mind you)_ and a Shinto hat. He was staring right at her in the middle of a crowded auditorium, yet not one person was looking up.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_Matthew with an epic voice. My life is complete._

**["AS THE MAN WHO HAS KNOWN LOVE, LOSS AND BETRAYAL, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

He sank into the card, making her realize that not one person bothered to shift their head up to see that a random samurai was talking in an epic voice. Maybe there was something wrong with the whole Persona thing. She gave up for a few minutes and decided to continue studying her music.

**/=+=/**

"Well then…we should be ready to begin~!" Francis stood in front of the crowd. "I have a lotto system right here in front of me, so draw your number and that is the order you'll be going in!"

Charice shrugged as she stood up from her seat and went to the hat to draw her number. She looked at her slip of paper. #10. Huh, that's a lot of people auditioning, if she thought about it. And that would mean she would have to be quite early on. Curse her luck.

"Ve~~~I'm number #12…"

_Hold up. I know that voice._ "Feli-chan! You're here too?"

"Ve? Ah-! Charice!" He turned to her. "I didn't see you there! I didn't know you were auditioning!"

"Can I say that for you too?" She turned her head around and saw…well… "Wait, Ludwig's here too?"

"Yes! I thought it would be nice for the both of us to audition for this show! Fratello Francis is a nice man to work with!"

_Suuuuuure…I'll take that as a truth._

"Ve~~~can we sit together until we are called upon?"

"Of course, of course! How about up there so we can see the auditioners?"

Feliciano nodded as she crawled through the rows to watch the people playing for their roles. She couldn't help but notice how beautiful and new the seats were in the auditorium, feeling so soft as if they were made from IKEA or something like that. As she plopped downward, she couldn't help but notice that there was another person in the seat next to her.

"Oh, hey kuya~!"

"Hey." Rizal sighed. "Auditioning?"

"Yep! #10, while Feli-chan's #12! What about you?"

"Not really. I'm in charge of the lights, so I just came down to see who I might 'accidentally' blind with a spotlight."

"If you're doing that, you might as well do it on that guy."

#1 = Antonio Hernandez Corriedo. The Spaniard was really open when it came to talking about what role he wanted to be _(which, actually, he didn't know)_. For the hell of it, he began to sing "Do You Hear the People Sing?", which wouldn't be bad until you realize that he was singing in Spanish. Kiku calmly told him that he had to sing the English version…three times. And after he did it, he wasn't that bad. Now if only he can remember singing the English version at all.

#2 = Feliks Lukasiewicz. She had no idea what gender this country is _(or even what country this person was…we'll assume it's a boy)_, and the voice didn't help either. He was singing a very good rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream", which did not help on working out this person's gender. She gave up on figuring Feliks out a few minutes later.

#3 = Yao Wang. She automatically assumed that he was going to get a female role _(maybe because of the long hair?)_, and his rendition of "On My Own" made this automatically worse. She and Rizal snickered during the entire audition, and from the sound of it so did the other people. What is up with these genderless people?

#4 = Ludwig Beillschmidt. Yeah, the German guy was auditioning to be a French man. That automatically made Charice freak out on just how he was going to bomb his audition. However, his _(rather reluctant) _version of "Stars" made Rizal blush and look away _(?)_, Feliciano chirp and praise his hidden talent, and Charice question just about everything that she knew about Germans. What can you say? Ludwig can SING.

#5 = Gilbert Beillschmidt. Apparently Gilbert vowed to overshadow his younger brother in talent and then belted out his version of "Stars" as well. Of course, everyone started clawing out their ears and Kiku begging for him to stop. Charice, on the other hand, finally concluded that Ludwig was just a 'special case' in terms of German talent. But didn't Gilbert say that he was Prussian? And was Prussian a type of German? Now she questioned everything about blood relations.

#6 = Raivis Galante. OK, who was this guy? That's it, she's talking to someone else.

"_Hey, kuya-"_ She paused. _"Rizal?"_

"_Hm? What is it?"_

"_Are you blushing?"_

"…_no."_

"_But your face is red…"_

"…_I just don't feel good."_

"_Then why are you here?"_

"_Because Gilbert was what made me sick."_

Charice was about to argue that statement when she realized that he made a reasonable explanation. She gave up and realized that they had hit #9, who was none other than Matthew Williams. Charice leaned in with low expectations _(to help the guy, not because she couldn't find herself seeing him high)_ and heard him sing a light version of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables". No one could hear half his lines, but for some reason it made the song all the more powerful. She couldn't help but start crying.

And that's when she realized that she was up.

She panicked a few minutes before jumping up to her feet and running to the stage. The fact that a lot of eyes were staring at her somehow unnerved her a little, which was strange concerning the fact that this had happened a few times during the few World Meetings she had beforehand. After a few greetings, she decided to sing "On My Own" _(in true Lea Salonga pride)_. After she was done, she bowed and left the stage, seeing the #11 player.

"I think the term is 'break a leg', Roderich~"

"Duly noted."

Yes indeed. #11 = Roderich Edelstein. After she got a high-five from Rizal, she sat down and watched as Roderich cleared his throat and began to sing "Bring Him Home". What freaked her out was that the entire song was sung in high notes and _**he actually pulled it off**_. Maybe this is nation talent? She could hear hoots and hollering from the little group of people in the side of the room, and couldn't help but notice that one of them was a woman with long, brown hair. Who was she?

"Ve~~~"

"What is it?"

"…I'm next…"

"Don't worry about it, Feliciano! You'll do well, I'm sure! And if not…well, you're Italian, so you'll do well!"

#12 = Feliciano Vargas. He smiled weakly at Charice before "ve~ing" and jumping to the stage to give his performance. He cleared his throat before he sang _(what she would like to call)_ the male version of "Castle on a Cloud". That choice of song caused Charice to turn her head around to see if there was a camera catching this event. Nonetheless, Rizal was staring at him while rubbing his forehead in confusion as the girls in the room began to squeal in happiness. At that time, she felt a card in her hand that resembled a star. She turned her head and saw an elephant with armor on it…OK, these Personas are starting to freak her out.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_No comment, no comment, no comment…please don't comment…_

**["AS THE GUARDIAN OF THE ANCIENT DEITY, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

She allowed the card to sink into her body as she saw Feliciano walk back to her with a smile on his face. She nodded, saying that he was good, and it somehow made him better. They turned back to the stage just in time to see lucky #13 audition. And guess what? It was Lovino.

**/= [DAY 20] =/**

Francis and Kiku went all night on debating, so they were able to post the big cast for the show just about the next day. As Rizal and Charice walked into the lobby, they saw that a small crowd had gathered around the listing. She quickly crawled to the front and was able to get to the side of a familiar face.

"Hey, Matthew! Looking at the list?"

"_Yeah…I-I don't think I'm on the list…"_

"Nonsense! See, here you are! Right there! Right next to my name!" She pointed at the list. "We're in the show! As ensemble, but heck we're in the show!"

"_Haha…I'm on the list…I'm in the show…I have singing talent."_

"Hell yeah, you have singing talent!" She chirped. "Let's go see who the main characters in the show are!"

**THE LIST OF CHARACTERS**

**[JEAN VALJEAN] – Roderich Edelstein**

**[FANTINE] – Elizabeta Hedervary**

**[COSETTE] – Feliciano Vargas**

**[JAVERT] – Ludwig Beillschmidt**

**[MARIUS] – Alfred F. Jones**

**[EPONINE] – Arthur Kirkland**

**[MR. THENARDIER] – Antonio Hernandez Corriedo**

**[MADAME THENARDIER] – Lovino Vargas**

**[ENJOLRAS] – Gilbert Beillschmidt**

**[GAVROCHE] – Yong Soo Im**

"…I'm done." Rizal sighed and turned away, yet making no gesture to walk away.

"Ah, look at that. German's dude the police officer!" Charice snickered. "And it looks like Roderich got the lead part anyway."

"Ve~~! Look look, Doitsu! You got a lead part! And so did I!"

"Why are you in a girl's part? You're a boy!"

"Hah! Look at that, I'm a revolutionary! That part's going to be a hell lot more awesome than always!"

_Yeah, concerning the part that Arthur Kirkland's parents are a Spaniard and an Italian. Shit's about to go down._ "Hey, uh…Matthew? Why's your brother Marius?"

"_W-why? I don't have any complaints about it."_

"I know, but…after your audition, I'm surprised that they just didn't give you the role. And besides, Alfred auditioned for Valjean, remember?"

"Ce que? Who said that America was Marius?"

She turned around and saw that Francis was walking by, muttering something to himself in French as he skimmed the paper on the wall. After a few minutes, he nodded and sighed as he turned back to Charice and Matthew with a sad smile on his face.

"Oh dear…I wanted to type of Mathieu's name on the list, not Alfred's…" He sighed. "Still, there's nothing you can do. I guess he'll have to do."

…

"Does Charice Pacquiao have to choke a bitch?"

"Ate? Ate, what are you doi- NO, **NO, ****NO.** Charice, back away from Francis- _**NO, NO, **_get your hands off his neck…Charice, come on listen to me…"

**/=+=/**

**Yoshitsune**** is a Japanese general of the Minamoto clan during the late Heian and early Kamakura period. His legend goes how he beat a legendary warrior named Benkei in a duel and how he ended up being Yoshitsune's servant until he was betrayed and forced to commit suicide…which would be homicide, really. [Matthew Williams - TOWER] **

**Ganesha**** is a Hindu god that was supposed to be the son of Parvati and Shiva. He's the one who's most famous for having the elephant head because Shiva cut it off. [Feliciano Vargas - STAR]**

**And that my friends is the sub-plot for our main plot! By the way, the rehearsals for this show are going to be mandatory, so they won't be a choice for you to take. However, I will give you the choices for the fateful day…here you go:**

**-Jump Antonio **_**(and now Lovino!)**_** in the gardens**

**-Have fun in the Music Club**

**-Work in the library with Arthur**

**-Harass Gilbert for a while**

**-Or maybe Ludwig if we can find him**

**-Recite lines with Matthew**

**-Hang around with Rizal in the lobby**

**By the way, this whole chapter is "Le Mis" centric, so you'll have to know the show in order to get most of the jokes. I'm sorry, it's just that last year my school did this musical and it was one of the best memories that I ever had in my three years in my school's Theatre Society. Let me share the magic of this musical to you :D**


	13. Standing At The Crossroads of Fate

**So here we go with Chapter 13! Readings are fun.**

**/= [DAY 20] =/**

"Hey, Lovi-kun! There you are!"

"It's **LOVINO,** Charice."

"Yeah, whatever." She looked around. "Where's Antonio?"

"He's hanging out with his crazy ass friends…not like I miss him or anything."

Charice stared at him as he tended the tomatoes that grew around him. He wiped sweat from his brow and continued to tend while she stood back _(stepping in was going to make him start yelling…that much she knew)_. That's when he turned around.

"What? You're not going to start ranting randomly to me?"

"…you _**want**_ me to?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then I won't." She grinned. "I will remind you that we have a reading for Les Miserables after school today!"

"God, not that show again…why in the world did that frog make me a woman? _**MARRIED TO ANTONIO**_, out of all people!"

"Well, in the show, you do constantly curse out your husband and steal for a living…" She shrugged. "And you do stay alive for the entire show."

"Wait, people die in that show?"

"Yeah…mainly everyone, though…um, Yong Soo, half the ensemble, Gilbert…oh, Ludwig-"

"Fine, I'm showing up."

"Great! Besides, if you ditch right now, the show might fall in on itself. We need every character we can take, you know!"

"_Che…like I was ever needed."_

"Eh? You say something?"

"No, nothing. What, are you just going to stand there and look at me like that?"

"Until you give me a tomato, then yes."

"…fine, stand there for all I care."

"Huh…I was expecting you to give me a tomato and tell me to piss off or something."

"Do you _**want**_ me to give you a tomato and tell you to piss off?"

"Only if you want too."

"Then here. Have a tomato. Piss off."

**/=+=/**

The read-through was right after school, so she dashed over to the auditorium and dropped her books. As she plopped into her seat, she flipped her head around to see if there was any indication of anyone standing around. Yet oddly enough, she was alone. How, though…?

"Oh, Charice…hey there."

She looked up and saw none other than Alfred F. Jones standing over her, a semi-worried look on his face. _What was up with that…?_

"I'm the one that doesn't have the grudge, Al."

"Oh…OK! That's good!" Alfred plopped down next to her. "How's Rizal doing, by the way?"

"He's doing OK. No big fights, so that's good." She smiled. "You don't have to worry, Al. He's not mad anymore."

"That's good to hear…"

_Why are people scared of him?_ No one ever told her about it.

Nonetheless, everyone started pouring into the room so she couldn't ask him that question. Francis stepped in the middle of the circle and started up some really long lecture about the _**soul**_ of this show and how it represented human struggles or something like that. She didn't care, so she ended up scanning the cast.

Somehow, Antonio got Lovino to show up without throwing a fit, Ludwig was sitting a few feet away so that he wouldn't get mad, Arthur was muttering some choice words underneath his breath, so she didn't try to remark upon it, and…wait, where's Feliciano?

"Ve~~~I'm right here…"

"_**HAH?**_ Oh, Feli-chan! There you are!" She chirped. "I'm sorry that I didn't see you!"

"It's fine, Charice…I didn't know you were there either!"

…hah?

"All right then…let's get this reading over with so that we can have our fun next time we meet!"

"Which will be _**when,**_ you bloody frog?"

"Why, two days from now! Now hush while I begin the music!"

Francis started the CD as the rest of them started listening to the music. Some tried to sing along…few were successful. Then again, who did know the pitch and the lyrics other than Francis _(and maybe Kiku?)_…oh right, her. She was in the audience with Rizal when Lea Salonga played Eponine in the 10th Anniversary. So she had the most fun singing "Lovely Ladies" with the other girls. As she sat down, Feliciano stared at her in interest.

"Ve~~~I never knew that you knew the song!"

"I was at one of the shows. It's a fun song…though it's about prostitution and all that bad stuff…"

"D-does this one have Elizabeta as…well…one of them?"

"Yeah, but she's doing it to support your character, Cosette. Think about it: she's the only source of income and raised her daughter well."

"Ve~~~like how Elizabeta and Roderich raised me as a child."

Charice sat there in confusion. Elizabeta plays a woman who's sending money to someone for their child played by Feliciano, even though she had raised him in real life. Then Valjean's going to take over, played by Roderich…who also raised him as a child.

**DAMN**, Francis. All that irony.

Nonetheless, Ludwig's intervention song made him sound so badass all the girls squealed _(which, oddly enough, wasn't much)_. The show went on as Alfred and Feliciano sang "Heart Full of Love" with Arthur in the background and Charice couldn't help but tear up. _Man, songs like this can always get you emotional._ After all was said and done, they went through the barricade scene _(it was then that Gilbert threw a fit at the fact that he had to FAKE DEATH)_ and went to the scene where Roderich carries Alfred through the sewers.

…wait…

"This is impossible." Gilbert laughed. "Roderich can't even carry three bags of groceries! How's he going to carry a human being?"

"Don't rub it in, Gilbert…"

"We'll figure it out, somehow…" Francis grinned. "Now, moving on…"

They continued on through the end of the play as Charice watched everyone kill each other on the barricade yet again, Feliciano and Alfred getting married _(I'm sensing a bit of brotherly jealousy from Lovino over there…)_, and then the show where Roderich dies in their arms and is taken to heaven with Elizabeta and Arthur in his arms.

"That's so…romantic." Elizabeta sparkled.

"Yeah, but everyone's _**dead."**_ Arthur spat.

"It doesn't matter! Cause it's only a show, da ze!" Yong Soo chirped. "And shows originated in _me!__"_

"No! Shows originated in ME!"

As Francis and Yong Soo continued to argue amongst themselves, Charice redirected her attention to the Italian, who was too busy talking to what looked like Adelita. What was her country again, Mexico or something…? She lived near Alfred's location, so…

"Geez, how long are they going to argue?" She heard Alfred laugh.

"You should know this, man. You've been working with them." Charice chuckled. "I'm one of the newcomers here!"

"Ah, so true, so true! And you're not even fazed by it!" Alfred grinned. "I must've taught you well in the small time that we were together!"

"You must've…I guess." She shrugged.

She had to admit this much: he was a much better person to look up to next to Antonio in his Conquistador years and…well, Arthur _(thank god that time was short)_. She lifted her hand to rub her forehead when she noticed that there was a card in her hand. It looked something like scales or something like that. She turned her head and saw that there was an angel behind her, wearing blue robes and holding a cross staff or something like that.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_This is…whoa._

**["AS THE ANGEL PRINCIPALITY, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

The card sank into her body as she saw Alfred stare at her with a strange look on his face. She waved her hands with a grin on her face and tried to play it off…and since this was Alfred she was talking to, hell it worked. Charice was very grateful that she surpassed _**that**_ curveball.

**/=+=/**

"Has anyone ever told you that you were a little horrible at singing?"

Charice looked up and saw Li Xiao standing next to the auditorium door with a blank look on his face, not paying attention to the random conversation / argument that was going on behind her. She pouted at that statement and pointed at him.

"At least I auditioned." She answered.

"I'm the Stage Manager, Charice. I already have a big thing to do." He stated. "Anyway, that's not why I'm here."

"Eh? You had a purpose?"

"Yeah…" He sighed. "You've been tense this whole time."

"Tense? What are you-?"

"Are you expecting another murder?" He stared at her frozen frame. "I thought so. That's good. Don't let your guard down."

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"No. I wanted to tell you to relax." Li Xiao stood up. "If you're tensed up when the next attack occurs, then you won't be ready to save them."

"…easier said than done, Li Xiao." She said. "Unlike most of the world, I was only exposed to massive death _**recently."**_

"Recently? I thought you had civil wars with both Antonio and Alfred."

"…yeah, about that…Rizal was the one who went to war. They told me to stay behind so that the country would still be standing in case he fell in battle."

"What? Charice, nations can't die."

"You can't, but I can. Logistics when it comes to half of countries are different from those of whole countries." Charice stated. "I represent half of my nation, and Rizal the other. If one of us dies, the other one becomes the whole country and achieves true immortality."

"Why do you say that? Aren't you two twins? You look like it."

"No, Li Xiao…I'm the older half." She grinned. "But thanks for thinking otherwise."

**/=+=/**

**Principality**** is the seventh order of the Levels of Angels. They are tasked to oversee groups of people and are said to inspire living things to many things like art or science. I see it more like…the angel that leads people through their destiny or something. [Alfred F. Jones - Justice]**

**And yes, "Adelita" is Mexico. Her name is Spanish and is supposedly the Mexican spelling of the Italian / Spanish name "Adelina"…which means noble. I might include other countries in here, but unless you guys really want to see those countries play huge roles, I'll barely mention OC nations.**

**OK! We're just about rounding down to the story line! I got a good plan on what I want the choices to be, and here they are:**

**Jump Antonio and Lovino in the gardens**

**Hang out with Arthur in the Library**

**WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! I want to say something before you state these choices. You have officially entered the "World War II" sub-story **_**(which started in Chapter 9),**_** the one where Matthew said that Ludwig almost died during that war. It's nothing that you've seen before, and it explains why Gilbert is still alive. I just wanted to say this before I give you the consequences.**

**One of these choices will make the sub-story round off to its proper conclusion and more answers concerning the countries themselves will be let known. Not only that, but it will involve what I want to call the funniest worlds I've ever made and create a super duo attack that nonetheless will leave a good visual in your head. HOWEVER, CHOOSING THIS ROUTE WILL TAKE OUT TWO CHARACTERS FROM THE LIST OF CHARICE'S POTENTIAL SOUL MATES.**

**The other choice will keep everyone on the list and you are free to choose them for Charice's soul mates. The world for this victim will be interesting for both the victim and you, in a way. HOWEVER, CHOOSING THIS ROUTE WILL DROP THE SUB-STORY AND NO MORE ANSWERS WILL BE GIVEN. ALSO, this route will drop Gilbert from the chance of being in the main character cast, if you know what I mean :D**

**So…choose! I won't update until I feel that I got a good choice.**

**And by the way, I'm not telling you which choice does what :D**

***dangle***


	14. What Choices Are Made

**Wow…I just realized that I have a lot of fun watching all you girls **_**(and guys, if you're reading)**_** squirming and screaming for the choices they wanted. Apparently, a lot of people wanted the sub-story reach the conclusion and stressed on the actual choices. So just because I am nice **_**(and love to develop the sub-story)**_**, I'll play biased and go with the sub-story plot, even though the vote is clearly half-and-half.**

**Enjoy~~~!**

**/= [DAY 21] =/**

She stretched her legs out as Charice opened the window to her room. Today she was going to be working on the scenery and props of Les Miserables _(apparently the duty assigned to the __**Asia**__ class)_ before getting into her History class presentation. Charice didn't seem to mind all of this, though…for her iPod is fully charged and she was going to be listening to it the entire day. She grabbed it and chose the one song that she was going to listen the entire day. Hey, she can do it.

**/= "I Did It for You" by Charice Pempengco =/**

As she walked into the room, she was surprised to see Húdié Meí and Kiku mixing up the paints for the assignment. Yong Soo and Aditaya were having fun playing sword-fight with their paint brushes, much to Sun Tam's displeasure. She had to bonk them over the head to make them cooperate.

"Will you two please focus? We have a job to do!" She stated.

"_Fine, fine…"_ Yong Soo sighed. "Kill joy."

Before she knew it, he jumped into the air and grabbed Charice's boobs. Rizal again came out of nowhere and started strangling him, forcing Charice to grab him and pull him away. After a few minutes, she knew that she had calmed Rizal down, so she went to the wall they were going to paint and began to slather it green. Hey, it looked like grass.

"Yong Soo won't be bothering you anymore, Charice."

"That's great to hear." She looked up to her smiling brother. "Help me paint this."

Rizal didn't have to bother arguing about it before he was down and painting with her. Almost instantly, she remembered Antonio and Alfred. Whenever she would mention Rizal, they would say something good but at the same time, she couldn't help but think that they were scared of him. It was weird, since he was only half of a nation that wasn't part of the G8. What would they be scared of…?

"Hey, kuya?"

"Yeah, ate?"

"…do you know that Antonio and Alfred are scared of you?"

"Oh, are they? What, like how they're scared of Ivan?"

_He's not bothered by this?_ "I don't know…they never elaborated on it."

"Well…that's interesting to hear." He said, not even bothered by what she had just said. "That means that I'm doing a good job protecting you."

"It's the 21st Century, Rizal. Everyone's basically protecting each other. You don't have to worry about me all the time."

"…true…but even then, you don't know what you're doing."

"_**HEY! **_What's that supposed to mean!"

Rizal could only laugh as he continued to paint the grass and make sure that Yong Soo doesn't grope her anymore. Meanwhile, Charice was listening to her iPod and continued to imagine how Francis and Kiku could get Arthur into a female's outfit and sing like a girl. He was an _uke_, if she thought about it. Then again…she was having fun pairing him up with Alfred. He was a colony of England, wasn't he?

She was going to harass him about it later…

**/=+=/**

"Are you going to meet up with Arthur?"

She turned her head to see Li Xiao walking toward her with a stack filled with books in his arms. It was then that she realized something strange: Li Xiao had thick eyebrows too…but they were beautifully trimmed. Maybe it's because he was Asian?

"Yeah, actually. Just to hang out with him. You?"

"I was told to bring this to him. Rizal told me that you were looking with him, so I figured that you might've found him."

"Hey, I may be Asian, but that doesn't mean that I know where everyone is."

"_Are you looking for Arthur?"_

They turned their head to see Matthew and Kiku walking toward them. Kiku was holding a strange script in his hand, while Matthew was holding what looked like to be a prop weapon _(a spear or something?)_. Charice tilted her head in confusion.

"Everyone must really want to talk to Arthur, huh?" Charice laughed. "What's going on, is he suddenly becoming extremely important to the show's production?"

"He is Eponine." Kiku stated.

"…I mean _**despite**_ that." She tilted her head and laughed.

"_No, it's not that. It's just that since he's playing a woman, we have to do a lot of costume shaping."_ Matthew answered. _"I need to fit a trenchcoat and a skirt for him."_

"…French maid."

"No, we can't do that."

"I know, I know Li Xiao…but I can't help but think about it…"

"Hey, you four! You seen Iggy around?"

"No, Alfred…we haven't." Li Xiao sighed. "Why're you looking for him?"

"He has a book that he said he wanted me to read…I dunno what the title was, but he said to meet up with me."

"Fine. I guess we should look for him together." Charice grinned. "Hold up a minute, I need listening music."

She plugged her iPod into her ears, listening to the song of her namesake. They stared at her for a few minutes as she decided that she wanted another song to listen to…and then realized that she couldn't change it. Her eyes widened as they went to Li Xiao, whose eyes widened as well.

"What's wrong?" Kiku asked.

"I can't change my song." She paused. "…it turned off…"

The four of them stared at each other _(much to Alfred's confusion)_ and suddenly dashed as fast as they could around the building. The poor American was wondering what was going on with the fears on their faces as Charice dashed around the hallways.

"I was listening to this song the entire time…I didn't know that it was the signal…"

"It's fine…it's not your fault…" Kiku stated.

"Hey, hold up!" Alfred screamed. "What's going on? Tell me!"

"_We'll tell you once we confirm it, brother…I'm sorry."_ Matthew said as he ran next to him. _"But we're in a hurry…"_

"He's outside…the signal's stronger outside!"

Charice spun around as she dashed toward the woods, leaving the others to follow after her. The music got louder and louder as she finally found herself face-to-face with the school's private river. That's when she saw it: a small rope attached to a rock. Her signal was strongest here.

"Over here, over here!" She pointed at the rope. "We have to pull it up!"

Li Xiao and Matthew quickly grabbed the small rope and pulled it up, grunting at the sheer weight of it. Alfred finally caught up to them as the four of them finally pulled up what was weighed down: a white sheet acting as a bag. Kiku shivered as he pulled the sheet away from the person's face. Charice screamed bloody murder and flew out of the way, allowing Alfred to see the body.

It was Arthur Kirkland.

"_Arthur…?" _He stepped forward. _**"ARTHUR!"**_

He flew toward the man and started to pound on his chest, desperate to breathe life back into the Englishman, only to see that he had been too late. The American backed up and sank to his behind, his face filled with shock and fear, and he had been shaking the entire time.

"I just saw him this morning…we got into an argument like always…" He panicked. "If…if only I knew…"

"No, it's my fault…if only I caught the sign sooner…"

"…please tell me what is going on…please."

Kiku nodded as he confirmed that he was going to be the one to explain to him everything that was going on. While that was going on, Matthew and Charice forced themselves to touch Arthur's body to see if that was going to help. Instead, Matthew was able to create a portal a few feet away.

"It's the same murderer…" Charice gasped.

"_It means we can save him…"_

Matthew looked up to see that Alfred had just finished his debriefing with Kiku and had just seen the portal that he had been talking about. The American stood up and stared at the portal before running head-first into the other side without even thinking.

"Hey-!" Charice sighed. "All right. We better go after him."

**/=+=/**

**Aditaya**** is the Republic of Thailand, his name meaning "the sun, and god of light".**

**Sun Tam**** is Vietnam. Tam means "heart", and I'm just used to using 'Sun' for Asian names.**

**As for how Arthur died, it's a homage to the Witch Trials in both America and England. One popular way to test for witches is to tie them up and throw them into a body of water. If they drowned, the woman was declared innocent. But if they floated, they were treated as witches and were burned at the stake. A lot of women died unneeded deaths because of these "trials".**

**And…yeah. If you chose Lovino and Antonio, you just chose to drop the subplot :D**

**I just gave you this cause a lot of you wanted the subplot up.**


	15. Another Side of America

**So…a lot of you chose this pathway, and well…hope you enjoy the world, eh?**

**/= ["Song of Storms (Super Smash Bros Remix)" by Zelda] =/**

The first thing that Charice couldn't help but notice was that they were on a pirate ship. She looked over the edge and saw that there was an ocean around them, like a regular ship. And that's when she realized that she was in a pirate's outfit _(hat and all!)_, which oddly enough wasn't that slutty. She turned around and saw that everyone else had achieved some really cool outfits as well…and they looked a hell lot better. Heck, Matthew even had the hat on his head.

_Lucky bastard._

"Um…where are we?"

She turned her head and saw that Alfred was trying to figure out what was going on. What was the weirdest thing was that he wasn't in a pirate outfit whatsoever: he was in his original Academy outfit and couldn't see what was going on around him. That's when she noticed it: a strange white fog around them that she could see perfectly clear through.

"This is Arthur's world." Kiku stated. "A world created by his thoughts and memories when he fell into this plane."

"So this is what he's really thinking."

"We have to look for a sign before we make a move." Li Xiao looked around. "Otherwise, we'll be lost in this realm for a long time."

"We have to _**wait?"**_ Alfred spat. "We can't just wait!"

"Hey, I don't want to wait just as much as you do. I was a former colony of England as well, you know. But we have to."

Alfred stared at Li Xiao with a cringed look on his face before he dropped the subject and continued to stare out of the ship even though he couldn't see for anything. Matthew looked out of the ship for a few minutes before he turned his head to the others that were standing around him.

"_I-I see another ship!"_

"There's our cue!" Charice grinned. "Let's do this!"

"Who's steering the ship?"

Everyone stared at each other as they realized that no one knew how in the world to steer a freakin' ship. Kiku was in the middle of staring at everyone when he caught a glance of his Shadow _(it had to be, since it had the ninja garb)_ staring back at him while standing at the side of the ship. He was about to counter when he realized that the Shadow wasn't going to attack him.

"…will you help me?"

The ninja nodded as his figure transformed into a yellow light into a three-legged bird, who flew into the air and hovered next to the wheel. Kiku quickly dashed to the steering wheel and grabbed it, seeing the bird fly in the same direction as the other ship.

"Kiku, what are you doing?" Li Xiao asked.

"I'm steering the ship." He answered. "Please trust me, for I know what I'm doing."

"…OK!" Charice grinned. "Don't worry too much about it, Li Xiao! Let's see what he does!"

"This is Arthur at stake here." Li Xiao spat.

"Better than waiting for the signal, isn't it?"

Li Xiao was about to argue when he saw that the worried look on Alfred's face and knew that he couldn't argue about it. So he allowed Kiku to steer the ship and follow the other ship while the rest of them were waiting restlessly for something to happen. Charice walked toward Alfred, who was rubbing the back of his head rapidly.

"You look really worried…"

"I just saw Arthur Kirkland dead right in front of my face. I can't help BUT be." He answered. "I've…never seen a dead country before, you know."

"Well, I haven't seen dead countries either but…I've already seen one before just in the past year." Charice sighed. "Well, two if you count this, but…yeah…"

"…you lived under Arthur for only a few years, right?"

"Eh? Uh, sorta…not long at all."

"Then you don't understand any of this."

Charice didn't know what to say. It was true, she didn't have any knowledge of the outside world at all. Rizal dealt with a lot of the outside forces, so all she knew for sure was Antonio, Alfred and Arthur _(albeit barely)_. The exact word she wanted to use was…**babied.**

"_**You're calling her babied? Seriously? I think you're the only one that's been babied!"**_

She cursed out her luck as they turned to see another Alfred walking toward him, surrounded by purple clouds and had the shining gold eyes. What surprised her was that he was wearing a strange gray uniform and he had talked in a strange Southern drawl, a drawl that made the actual Alfred back up in surprise.

"Another me…?" He gasped. "Charice…is that a Shadow?"

"Yours, actually." She rubbed her forehead. _"But I thought only Arthur's Shadow would be here…"_

"_**Blah, blah, blah, that's all you say! Seriously, you say that you're all knowing and that you always know what the hell is going on and what you're doing…but the truth is, you're more clueless than the poor little broad behind you! You only go by instinct! Like hell you know what's going on!"**_

"S-shut up! What makes you say that? I always know what's going on!"

"_**Oh really now? Do you know who I am?"**_

"You're…you're my Shadow."

"_**Ah, Alfred…I'm so much more than that…I'm Jackson Jones, my friend!"**_ He grinned. _**"And I have so much to tell you…"**_

"_Alfred, don't listen to him!" _ Matthew stated. _"He's trying to mess with you!"_

"_**You're just messing with yourself! And you call yourself a country…when the truth is, you're just a mix of nations…a little of this, a little of that, a mix of a few people here and there…"**_ Jackson spun his shotgun in his hand. _**"The truth is, you have no identity. What you are now is just a cover for you to fit in, but think about it…is there anything TRULY American about you…?"**_

Alfred started rubbing his forehead in confusion as Charice stood back trying to wonder what he was saying. Since when did Shadows have minds like this, separate from the bearer? Wasn't Jackson Alfred or something else? And didn't the Shadows try to protect the bearer, not try to mock them? Trying to find out the science of it was hurting her.

"…are you mocking me, Jackson…? I don't know who the hell you are! We've never met!"

"_**Indeed we haven't. But I know everything about you, Alfred F. Jones."**_ He grinned. _**"I'm your twin brother."**_

"…" Charice turned her head. "…you're Canada?"

"_I-I'm right here, Charice!"_

"…you're Puerto Rico?"

"_**You couldn't be any farther from the truth, my darlin'…but you don't have to worry about it any longer. For I am the true America, and I came back to claim what I had lost."**_

Charice watched in horror as Jackson grabbed Alfred's collar when she finally noticed that there were sounds of something crawling up the side of the ship. She backed up in confusion as she saw Yao Wang jump over the railing and charge toward Alfred. His eyes were glowing gold like a Shadow.

"_**Nuh-uh, aru! I'm the REAL America!"**_

"…Yao Wang...?" Li Xiao gasped. "What's going on…?"

"Guys, watch out!" Kiku called, jumping from the steering wheel. "They're completely swarming the ship!"

"_**WHAT'S **_swarming the ship?"

Charice didn't have to get an answer: she watched in horror as every single other nation that she had ever seen in the school _(and even nations she couldn't identify)_ swarm themselves on the ship and try to grab a hold of Alfred, claiming to be the true America. She grabbed her Persona and tried to fight them off, to no avail. Suddenly, the whole swarm shot upwards to the sky and turned into a horrible chimera creature of a failure. Matthew screamed.

"…is anything easier these days…?"

**/= ["His World (Super Smash Bros Remix)" by Sonic the Hedgehog] =/**

"_**We are the true America…what he really is…"**_ The chimera spread open his arms. _**"We are all America…can't we all get along?"**_

"STOP ATTACKING US and I'll think about it!"

"Kiku, can you steer the ship with this thing on it?"

"I'll try my best. Please be careful!"

Charice summoned Maguimba as Cu Chulainn tried to slash through the leg. She saw as the slash cut it off, but it quickly regenerated into another leg which kicked Matthew right into the ship's wall. Li Xiao came in but was quickly subdued as well. They were dodging all the attacks while the chimera was still reigning on invincibility.

"Nothing's working on this guy!" Charice panicked. "Anyone have any good ideas?"

"_Alfred's in there…we have to get to him…"_

"We'll find out a way, Matthew." Li Xiao lifted his hand. "For now, we continue."

"_**Why are you trying to attack something you don't even know? It's completely pointless!"**_ The Shadow chimera laughed. _**"Accept your fate! You're one with me now!"**_

Kiku wondered how he could help, trying his best to steady the ship as the Shadow kept swaying it back and forth. Before he knew it, he saw Yatagarasu fly around the Shadow's head before he hovered in front of Kiku's head. His beak opened as if to say something.

"_**Why are you trying to attack something you don't even know?"**_

_He's just repeating what the Shadow said…_ Kiku blinked. _Unless…_

"_**Why are you trying to attack something you don't even know?"**_

He got it.

"Charice! Li Xiao! Matthew! We have to figure out who he is!"

"All right, fine! He's Jackson Jones, brother of America!" Charice screamed back. "Nothing's happening!"

"No, I mean what nation he represented!" Kiku said. "We have to find out what nation he is!"

_What nation Jackson represented…?_

She dodged another attack as their minds raced around the answers that could be a number of any answer. Was he a nation that they hadn't discovered yet? Was he a nation that was dissolved? It could be possible that he was the former America before Arthur discovered him…but he was too white for it. Not to mention that he was too Western for it.

Western…old America…

Didn't he have a civil war a long time ago?

"_I-I got it!"_ Matthew stood in front of the chimera. _"You're the Confederate States of America!"_

"_**You say something, runt?"**_

"_Y-yes…"_ He cleared his throat and glared. "You're the Confederate States of America!"

The Chimera, shocked by those words, staggered back and revealed a strange hole in the middle of his chest. They were too low to reach it, meaning that Kiku had to handle it. He jumped onto the railing as he held Yatagarasu in his hand. He pointed at the cut.

"Agilao!"

A fire shot out from his chest, breaking up all of the Shadows into clouds and levitated Alfred to the ground. Charice quickly ran to his side and grabbed him as he quickly regained consciousness and held his head in confusion as Jackson landed a few feet away from him.

**/= ["moon" by Umineko no Naku Koro Ni] =/**

"…the Confederate States…? From my civil war…?" Alfred lifted his head. "My boss told me that there wasn't anything created from that! He didn't tell me you existed!"

"_**Well…that's a flaw on his part, isn't it?"**_

"Why didn't you try to find me…? Tell me you exist…?"

"_**We were at war, brother…like it would make any difference."**_ Jackson grinned. _**"Byegones are byegones. I'm no longer in existence…except as your past."**_

"…I'm sorry that I never met you…"

"_**I'm sorry that we never had a good chat. Maybe that would've saved half our lives."**_ He sighed. _**"But the fact that you and your boss pardoned every single person on my land without a second thought…that's a compassion that no country had back then."**_

"…maybe." He looked up. "Does anyone else know you existed?"

"…_**one."**_

Before she knew it, Charice's hand started glowing and the Justice Arcana flew out of her arm. It started to glow and envelop the ship, and then they were at a conference hall. Jackson was slamming his hands at a country's desk, his chair facing away from him.

"_So you're not going to recognize me?"_

"_There's just too much risk in doing so."_

"T-that voice…!"

"_You're a young nation, Jackson…spun out of a nation that is young as well. How will recognizing you save you?"_

"_Don't make me threaten you, Arthur! You may be close to Alfred…but I'm America as well! Don't you trust me as well?"_

"…_no."_

"…Arthur…"

"_**He tried to protect you from me then…that much I can realize now."**_ Jackson said as the images faded from sight. _**"Maybe he still trusts you after you destroyed his life."**_

"…I have to thank him for that…perhaps we can go together?"

"_**Ready whenever you are."**_

Jackson started glowing as he hovered in the air, turning into an angel with long, black hair and yellow wings spreading behind him. It sank into Alfred's body as he smiled, his outfit turning into that of a pirate image as well. As he turned to the others, he heard Charice snicker.

"Oh my god…it's Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Only without the strange beard."

"_And the drinking problem."_

"OK, I get it!" Alfred turned his head around. "Hey…the fog is gone."

"Fog?" Kiku looked around as he climbed up the stairs. "I was actually going to ask you what you meant by that…"

"I have an assumption!" Charice lifted her hand up in the air. "The fog is the façade that a person makes when they hide something from the world! When someone actually wants to see the secret that they were hiding, they dig through the fog until they find the secret!"

"That's a good assumption…" Li Xiao thought. "The fact that he had no warning about the other world didn't prepare him for this, meaning that Alfred couldn't see through anything."

"So now that I have this Persona thingy that you were talking about…does that mean I can go through this world?"

"Let's hope so." Kiku looked up from his wheel. "There's land up ahead."

**/=+=/**

**Yatagarasu**** is the famous mythical bird that in Shinto myth was supposed to be sent from heaven to guide Emperor Jimmu on his journey to the region known today is Yamato. Shinto documents seem to have contradicting statements for this bird, but they all agree that it has three legs and looks like a raven. [Kiku Honda - Sun]**

**Dominion**** is the second level of angels in heaven. Their jobs are to watch over nations and regulate the duties of lesser angels. This is a perfect Persona for Alfred because as Americans we tend to butt into duties in the thought that we are protecting other nations…right? [Alfred F. Jones - Justice]**

**Historically, the Confederacy's best hope for winning the Civil War was international intervention from both England and France. However, they were under pressure from intervening because the Union threatened to declare war on them if they recognized the country. The Confederates tried to force them into acceptance by blocking cotton to England, but they had Egypt and India to save them. In the end, not one country recognized the Confederacy.**

**And to all the AlCha shippers out there that I have made depressed **_**(yes, I call it AlCha)**_**, you guys want a One-Shot?**


	16. A Pirate's Treasure

**So now that Alfred has his Persona, they can go further into the world to save Arthur! Can they come in just in time?**

**And by the way, I can't speak Pirate.**

**/= ["Song of Storms (Super Smash Bros Remix)" by Zelda] =/**

The minute they touched land, Charice realized just how much sea legs SUCK. She stumbled from time to time before she gave up trying and saw the others just walk off as if nothing had ever happened. In front of them were a few trees and what looked like mountains and caverns. And in front of the main cavern was a strange man in a red pirate outfit.

"It's Arthur!" Kiku blinked.

"_**Oy, you landlubbers be after me treasure?"**_

…_what?_ "I'm sorry…I don't speak pirate."

"_**What'd ye be doin' for bringin' a lass like that with ya? Don't ye know that Davy Jones shuns the broads from his territory?"**_

"…wha-?"

"_He's asking why you're here."_ Matthew whispered. _"During the pirate era, people thought it was bad luck for sailors to bring a woman with them when they sail."_

"_Oh."_ She cleared her throat. "I can pass off as a man, that's why!"

"_**Davy Jones knows all…an' by the way…me treasure is not yours to take!"**_

Before any of them can say anything, he cackled like a pirate and just ran into the caverns without even thinking about it. Charice blinked at the rest of them as her companions tried to figure out what he had been saying. After a while, she finally said it out loud.

"…what did he say?"

"He's keeping a treasure in there…" Alfred turned his head. "Do you think it's the real Arthur?"

"Most likely." Li Xiao folded his arms. "Like how Alfred found his Shadow."

"_But what if it was how Kiku's Shadow was fused with him?"_

"Maybe…I don't know…" Charice shrugged. "Whatever…_**LET'S DO THIS!"**_

**/=+=/**

The caverns were very confusing to walk around, since half the time they were bumping into dead-ends. After a few long twists and turns, Kiku finally turned toward the walls and noticed something strange: painted images on what looked like someone's past.

"Guys…look at this."

"Eh?" Alfred turned to him. "Wow…why didn't I notice this before?"

"_I think it wasn't there when we were outside."_ Matthew blinked. _"Hey, that's Francis…"_

"Oh, interesting…so that means that all we have to do is to follow the correct history pathway in order to find Pirate Arthur!" Charice clapped her hands. "I've been reading history books for some time, so I should be able to find a pathway to him!"

"Um…" Li Xiao stared at her. "Why were you reading history books?"

"Well…everyone seemed to know each other's pasts, so I just wanted to catch up…" Charice chuckled. "Whatever. Let's go to the next picture!"

Nonetheless, her strange studying-up on history had actually helped them from time to time. After a few more twists and turns, they finally found a picture that summed up everything: a picture of Alfred in a strange blue outfit standing in front of the kneeling version of Arthur in a red outfit.

"…_the American Revolution…"_ Alfred whispered.

"Look there." Kiku pointed at a split end. "The American Flag and the British Flag."

"All right then…guess we have to choose a pathway…" Charice blinked. "Are we choosing who won or where Pirate Arthur might've fled to?"

"It's calling me." Alfred touched the walls. "The flags are calling me…"

"…are they speaking _**American?"**_

"Charice, not now…" Li Xiao stepped to him. "Are they saying where we should be going?"

"Yeah…right here…"

He pushed the wall between the two flags, and they were shocked to see that a door opened up between them, revealing a staircase crawling downwards into the abyss. They quickly walked down the staircase as they saw more into his history: the Opium Wars, World War II…but the pictures were getting more and more messed up.

"_It's like he was going insane throughout the years…"_ Matthew blinked. _"Most of them aren't even done…"_

It was then that Charice felt a card in her hand: the Magician Arcana. She looked up and saw an image on the otherwise blank wall, glowing a strange blue: it had six stick figures around in a circle. One was holding another while another was on the ground. No faces were given.

_What the heck was that…?_

"Hey, I see a treasure room!"

Charice turned her head around and saw that Alfred had peeked inside a room that _(she swore to the secondary angels in heaven…for swearing to God is a sin)_ looked like the room in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl. In the middle was none other than Pirate Arthur standing in front of a closed treasure chest. He turned his head around.

"_**Must ye be goin' after me treasure chest?"**_

"We're not after treasure!" Kiku stated. "We're after you!"

"_**Why would ye be doin' that? Me sword serves me own soul and no scurvy dog may take that place."**_

"…what?"

"_He's saying that he won't be coming with us."_

"Oh…WHY CAN'T HE JUST SAY THAT?"

"You have to come with us, Arthur." Li Xiao stated. "We're the only ones who can help you."

"_**No landlubber can solve the problems of a pirate."**_ Arthur lifted his blade. _**"This is only me and me treasure…and you are not allowed."**_

"We're not leaving without you, Arthur…" Alfred clung to himself. "We're not leaving…"

"_**Why not, you blasted buffoon? You left me, didn't you?"**_

He froze.

"_**You don't think I forgot, didn't you backstabber? Three hundred years is nothing to us…I remember it like it was yesterday…and now you suddenly care?"**_

_His accent is dropping…_ Charice blinked. _Are we getting to him?_

"_**I am loyal only to me…and no one else. Don't you dare get any closer!"**_

**/= ["Coup de Gras" by Tales of Destiny] =/**

Charice backed up as she saw the pirate surround himself with purple clouds. It grew until it formed something that looked like an octopus / human hybrid wielding a saber and a rapier. She couldn't help but scream at the image of the freakin' thing.

"_**I am the Shadow…the true self…"**_ He pointed at them. _**"This is my land! My treasure! You will not have it!"**_

"…what would he be protecting, anyway?" Alfred asked.

"_**You will never know! Damn these landlubbers for their curiosity!"**_

They charged toward the Shadow as he roared in attack. Before she knew it, the Shadow Pirate roared and threw a huge tidal wave at them. Li Xiao and Alfred were able to jump while Kiku teleported his way out, while Charice and Matthew were swept to the other side of the room.

"Jackson…help me…" Alfred lifted his hand up in the air. "Dominion…Zionga!"

The lightning shot toward the pirate as he staggered back, sending out another wave toward him. Alfred jumped out of the way, the wave catching his leg and knocking him toward the ground. Kiku quickly jumped in front of him and slashed through the Shadow, knocking him back. Li Xiao turned toward Alfred and lifted his hand.

"Re Patra."

The light skimmed around Alfred's ankles, bringing him up back to his feet. Li Xiao turned his head with a smile on his face and charged toward Shadow Pirate with a double drop kick that made it twitch. He then flew up into the air holding his hands.

"Bufula."

The ice attacked the Shadow as he threw a punch toward Li Xiao, sending him flying. Charice quickly recovered and charged toward the Shadow as she lifted a hand in the air, a card spinning in the air. She could barely see the images of Roderich, Irunya, and Eduard surround her arm.

"Fortuna…Garu!"

The image of the woman came out of nowhere and threw air at the eyes, making the Shadow blink. She grinned as she switched her Personas, feeling the Arcana connecting them both together rub between her fingertips. She lifted her hand up in the air, feeling the energy of the world seep in her veins.

"Merlin…Thunder Reign!"

Shadow Pirate stood there in shock as Merlin erupted from the card and shot a major thunderstorm at him. It made the Shadow stagger backwards but wasn't knocked back. Charice looked up and realized that Merlin hadn't dismissed himself. Instead, he was glowing in the air before the scenery vanished and was instead replaced by a field in the pouring rain.

**/= ["****N****のあの曲をちょっとアレンジしてみた****" ****by inago3 **_**(on YouTube)**_**] =/**

"…where are we?" Kiku asked.

"Gah! It's raining!" Charice jumped in shock. "Since when did this get more realistic?"

"_This is…that time…"_

Matthew jumped and ran to Charice's side, making her turn her head and realize that there was a huge army of bluecoats facing them. Standing in the middle front of them was none other than a young Alfred F. Jones, aiming a gun straight at her. She screamed and jumped to the side, realizing that he had been aiming at the man behind him. And it was Arthur in a redcoat, sobbing in the rain.

"Arthur?" Li Xiao blinked. "What is this…?"

"The American Revolution…" Alfred blinked. "My independence."

They saw as the Revolution Alfred back up with a blank look on his face and walk away with his army, leaving Arthur alone in the rain sobbing about his past. The world around them faded in black as Alfred walked up to the sobbing young man at his feet.

"You seriously thought that I left you for good after this moment, didn't you?" He stated. "Hello? Haven't you been paying attention to anything in the past couple of years?"

The Shadow Arthur stared at him.

"World War II? How I came in to save you even though Ivan was technically saving you anyway? Our 'special relationship' our bosses were talking about?" Alfred grinned. "Here I thought that you knew better than I did."

He said nothing.

"Arthur, come on…can you trust me now? Can we go back?"

The Shadow said nothing as Charice finally turned her head to the treasure chest that he had been protecting. She opened the chest and noticed that there was nothing resembling gold in there. Instead, there was a simple pocket watch with the design of the American colony flag on it. She opened it and saw that the time read the exact time that the American Revolution ended. She turned to Alfred with a blank look on her face as Arthur transformed into a child version of himself.

"No one is going to abandon you anymore. This is the 21st Century…" Alfred grinned. "I'm not leaving you anymore."

"…_OK…"_

**/=+=/**

As they walked back to the ship, Alfred was shocked to see that Arthur was growing back into his normal form. By the time they were back to the portal, Arthur was back to his normal self and was now blushing at just Alfred's touch. Up to _dere,_ we see.

"Are you OK, Arthur?" Li Xiao asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." Arthur answered. "At least I understand where Charice got her knowledge of these things from."

"Yeah…you wouldn't believe me even if you knew what I was talking about." She answered.

"So now we can return home with another victory." Kiku smiled. "And by the looks of things, we're just in time."

"You mean my reincarnation."

"In _**your**_ original body, nonetheless!" Charice winked. "Since I caught it earlier than usual, it should be like that!"

"You mean…" Alfred turned to Arthur.

"It's like having a heart attack, Alfred. Time runs here differently than in our world." Arthur stated. "When you bring me back, I would have been dead for a few seconds, if not a minute or two. Everything should clear itself in the end…there's nothing to worry about."

"That's good…" Alfred lightly kissed his forehead. "Losing you twice is the last thing I needed."

"_So should we go back?"_

"Ready whenever you are."

**/=+=/**

When they crossed the portal, they saw nothing but Arthur's dead body back on the ground where he had been found. Alfred slowly walked to him as Charice quickly touched his leg, feeling the warmth return to her fingertips. Suddenly the body shivered with life, opening its eyes to see the young man that had been staring back at him.

"Are you alive?"

"…no. You're seeing my ghost on the verge to the afterlife."

"OK…does that mean I get to kiss you good-bye?"

Arthur blushed, especially when Alfred actually started leaning in to do so. After a few seconds, he allowed himself to do so. Charice couldn't help but coo and Kiku was one of the happiest otakus that was in the area. He had something to tell Elizabeta later.

"Huh…you're still here."

"Well, I decided to annoy you for the rest of eternity instead. That seems more fun."

"Hey, I have no complaints."

"Well…that's another victory." Charice grinned. "Now then…about that costume fitting…"

**/=+=/**

**As of right now, [ARTHUR KIRKLAND] and [ALFRED F. JONES] are off the soulmate list.**

**To all you AlCha fans…I'll get an idea for the One-Act one of these days. Other than that, have fun with this chapter.**


	17. To End Day 21

**So out of the blue, they're saving yet another man from the other world. Fun, right? Sure, why not. So back to the cast!**

**By the way, I do not own ****Les Miserables****. That's owned by Victor Hugo. The lyrics in the song are not owned by me as well. Just so you know.**

**/= [DAY 21] =/**

After everything that happened, Charice had to drag Arthur to the auditorium while Matthew held the costume he was going to be forced to wear. Francis couldn't help but chuckle as Alfred was the one that was pulling in his enemy into the room. Nonetheless, he was forced to get into costume and poor Arthur was saddened.

As Charice forced him into costume, she realized that they were playing out the Prologue _(which is a purely male scene meaning that Charice didn't have to be on today)_ and decided to sink into the audience next to Kiku as they worked on that scene. The music sounded…pretty interesting.

"Where're the lyrics for this?" She turned her head.

"Right here." Kiku lifted the packet in his hand. "Do you want to follow along?"

"I'll…try?" She stared at the packet. "If I figure out where the heck we are."

"We're right there, just so you know."

She turned her head to see that Rizal had come in to visit and had pointed out what they were doing. She really had to start paying attention. As they turned their heads back, they watched as the lights dimmed _(she was sitting next to the light board…who knew)_ and a random soldier came in with the other men. She couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the soldier was being played by a Feliks look-alike _(Kiku said that his name was Vash)_ and that Roderich was in the line. Rizal stared at the script in his hand as they started singing.

"_**Look down, look down…"**_

"_**Don't look them in the eye…"**_

"_**Look down, look down…"**_

"_**You're here until you die…"**_

"…this is creepy."

"It's basically about poverty in a prison." Kiku stated. "That's basically it. Not only that, but most of the cast has solos."

"_**Solos?**_ That sounds nice…" She grinned.

Charice turned her head to see that the solos have kept going while they were talking. The four people that they chose for them were extremely interesting to say the least. Heck, one of them looked Danish! Kiku said that his name was Magnus. She liked that name, Magnus. Before she knew it, she saw Ludwig walk onto the stage with his script and what looked like to be a black cape.

_Was Rizal blushing?_ She couldn't notice in the dark.

Again, his talent proved that he made the best damn Javert on the face of this planet as he called for Valjean to be dropped onto his feet. The whole scene screamed of pure awesomeness, and that was just radiating from Ludwig. Heck, he could sing the entire show on his own and still win the hearts of thousands of people. Wait…did she just classify Ludwig as a Gary Stu? Whoops.

The scene continued to a few filler stuff before the bishop came to confront Valjean. The thing that was strange was that it was a white-haired person with bright purple eyes. The casting made Kiku shiver, and she looked at the cast list to see who it was.

…_Ivan…Braginski?_ So the bishop is Russian?

"_**Come in sir, for you are weary…"**_

"_**And the night is cold out there…"**_

"_**Though our lives are very humble…"**_

"_**What we have, we have to share…"**_

The fact that he could sing apparently surprised everyone in the room. That alone surprised Charice because…really, if he couldn't sing would he really be in the cast with a singing roll _(look at Charice, for example!)_? Whatever, so the scene went on to Roderich stealing silverware _(obnoxious laughter can be heard from offstage)_, people being brought in to watch this, and Ivan saving his life by saying that the silverware is a gift. Apparently that changes his life for some reason…?

"This show makes no sense."

"That's because the casting makes no sense." Kiku answered.

"Well right now, the only one that makes sense is Doitsu-ki." She pointed out. "Cause he has a really good singing voice."

"That's the one thing I don't get from you, Charice."

"Eh?"

"You keep jumping between human names and your weird nicknames for them. Do you keep anything consistent?"

"No."

"At least you're honest."

"At least you asked."

That was basically the rest of the rehearsal…past the fact that Charice was so impressed she got deep enough in her Cute-Obsession mode to tackle glomp Ludwig on his way out. Unfortunately that didn't last long and she started screaming for someone to save her.

**/= [MEANWHILE…] =/**

"God, I can't believe how stupid this is…"

"Eh? What's stupid?

Alfred couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Arthur was being fitted for his costume despite the fact that he wasn't going to be onstage today, but what caught him off guard was that he was talking with such seriousness in his voice. He turned to him.

"I'm doing a play set in France…that bloody frog knows what to do to torture me…"

"Don't tell me that you're thinking a lot more romantic than that." Alfred winked. "Admit it: you're Eponine and I'm Marius! We don't end up together in the end, don't we?"

"_**I END UP DEAD FROM A GUNSHOT WOUND AT A BLOODY BARRICADE! BY FRENCH MILITIA!"**_ He screamed. "It's embarrassing just to mention it out loud…"

"Well, think about it this way…" He leaned in closer. "You die in my arms."

"…so what?"

"Well…you came back to life in mine just a few hours ago." Alfred chuckled. "And we're technically together, aren't we? Doesn't that seem extremely ironic to you?"

"…_s-shut up, bloody git…just because I kissed you doesn't mean I love you…"_

"Well, just because I'm my own nation doesn't mean I've forgotten you." He saw Arthur dart his head up. "Same logic?"

"D-did Francis teach you all these phrases? Cause they're all horrible, Alfred."

"No…I can be a romantic, if I wanted to." He sat next to him. "…hey, we should practice."

"Practice _**what?"**_

"Your death scene, of course!"

"_**Excuse me?"**_

Before he knew it, both of them had dropped onto the floor and Alfred was cradling the Brit in his arms. He could feel him struggle underneath his arms, yet he knew when he was truly struggling: he was barely even trying at this moment. Alfred couldn't help but laugh at his feeble attempt.

"Are you even trying?"

"…shut up…I'm just tired…"

"Ah, one of these days…I'm going to snap you right into _dere_ mode…how about this…?"

He lightly plopped a kiss on Arthur's lips, and as he pulled away he felt a light caress on his cheeks before the Brit smashed them back together. He had to admit: trying _not_ to do this during the show was going to be difficult. As they pulled away, Arthur sighed.

"_I guess I can let Feliciano have you for the shows that week…"_ He stated, a blush on his face.

"_And I guess I can let you die for that week."_ Alfred smiled. _"But you better come back to me afterwards, OK?"_

"…_all right."_

**/=+=/**

**The real filler comes tomorrow :D**


	18. His Descision

**SOOOOO…who's up for some filler :D?**

**/= [DAY 22] =/**

After saving Arthur from the other world, everyone was very grateful that he didn't need to be explained everything. Of course, there was the case with Alfred, but that was understandable. He was able to understand most of the information _(I mean, as far as Americans can go with long explanations)_ before sighing.

"So if this same murderer kills again, you can save them?"

"That's the theory that we have so far." Charice answered. "It worked for Kiku and Arthur, so we'll iron it out into scientific fact."

"That doesn't mean that we can let everything off the hook here." Li Xiao stated. "We don't know anything about that other world of what this killer is doing to achieve such a grand scale of a murder, or even why they're allowing a chance for them to be saved."

"Maybe he doesn't know that?" Alfred mentioned. "If these two are the only victims so far, then maybe he doesn't know that they're being saved!"

"Not likely." Arthur stood up. "He would have to stay close to us in order to pick out his victims. He must already know."

"_And yet he's still going…?"_ Matthew blinked. _"Wait, Arthur! A-are you saying that the murderer is in this school?"_

"That's the only likely choice. Otherwise, who else would know how to stop a reincarnation process?"

"…there's a way to stop it?" Charice blinked. "Well, I didn't even know that existed!"

"So we can rule her out for the list of suspects." Li Xiao sighed. "And since Kiku and Arthur were victims, and Matthew fell into the TV…that just leaves you and me."

"Hey hey _**HEY!**_ Are you calling me a suspect too?" Alfred panicked.

"Yes…but I'm putting myself on the list as well just to calm yourself down." Li Xiao answered. "The chances of that actually being true are very slim, but it's still there."

"Geez, Li Xiao…"

"Hey, no arguments here OK?" Charice stood up. "We have a murderer out there, you know!"

"That's true…" Alfred sighed. "Do you guys know how the next victim is chosen?"

"Not really…we can only figure out when the next victim is struck." She answered. "My iPod gets fits when a victim is chosen…but that's about it."

"Like it plays a theme song of the victim?"

"The only problem for me is that the songs are so vague in their themes that I don't know what exactly I'm looking for until the victim is already taken." She sighed. "I don't ever know what's going on when a song plays."

"That's not good…so we're still at the first checkpoint…" Alfred rubbed his forehead. "We have no idea who the murderer is attacking next?"

"So far, no." Li Xiao answered. "Fortunately, that's the only advantage that the murderer has over us."

"Yeah. Other than that, we can save whoever gets murdered!" Charice winked. "We're just ruining his plan for now~!"

"That's all we have for now. Since the murderer is starting up just now, it's understandable that we have nothing to use as a lead." Arthur said. "We better not look suspicious. We better head to class now."

"Aww, _**Arthur…"**_

"No buts, Alfred."

"How about yours?"

"_**No."**_

Alfred chuckled in amusement at the blushing face of the Brit he was dating. Meanwhile, Matthew turned his head and saw the disappointed looks on Kiku and Charice's faces as they put away their cameras…from wherever the heck they came from.

**/=+=/**

"…Charice…"

She turned her head to see that Ludwig was standing over her, a semi-surprised look on his face. He obviously wasn't expecting her in this location. Then again, she had just recently started to hang out in the gardens in the middle of the Academy, so…there would be no warning.

She would have her German-phobia kick in about now and she would flee the building faster than they would call for free food in the cafeteria, but she couldn't help but notice that there was something in his eyes that she hadn't seen in them before.

"Are you OK? You look…confused."

"I am, Charice." He sat down. "I was in the **Europe** class and…Arthur and Francis were arguing with each other. I dismissed it as something small before they started talking about the good old days…back when they were feared pirates on the seven seas."

_***shiver***_

"It was then that I realized that I must've had a past somehow, that I had something before I was Germany, that I had memories with another nation that had long since been repressed." Ludwig looked at her. "I want to know the answers, Charice. I'm going to start looking for them."

"You're going to try remembering, Ludwig? That's great!" She chirped. "Oh, if you need any sort of help, let me know! I'm known to rattle on endlessly until something is remembered!"

"No, I don't think that I want to remember like that." He sighed. "I want to remember concrete details."

"Oh…OK then…oh, why don't you talk to Rizal? He's very supportive and is basically the psychiatrist of the two of us! Maybe he can help you!"

"...he is trustworthy."

"Great! Oh hey…are you going to ask Feli-chan about this too? He's a European country, so-"

"No. I want to do this on my own, in case I end up not remembering anything at all." He stood up. "That means that I'm asking for you to keep this a secret."

"Of course! But you might as well tell Rizal, cause I tell him everything!"

"_I'm sure you do…"_

He sighed and walked away, finally allowing Charice to realize that the Death Arcana was now in her hand. She blinked in confusion at the appearing card before lifting it up and holding it over Ludwig's image. Surprisingly enough, she couldn't help but notice that the image turned to that of a purple shadow.

_What's going on…?_

**/=+=/**

"I…see…so Charice thinks that I might be able to help you."

"I'm not expecting you to do so, but she said that she was going to tell you anyway…"

"I'm not surprised. She never likes keeping things from me…but if it's that personal, I don't see why she would tell me anyway…"

"She's just looking out for you. And to tell you the truth, as I was thinking about how close she is to you I think I remembered something…"

"Remembered?" He blinked. "What is it?"

"Nothing much, just…I was close to someone like that before." He stated. "I can't remember who it was or what they look like…I just remember that this person was someone that I was personally attached to."

"So…you were close to this person." He sounded disappointed, yet he had long since mastered the poker face.

"I don't know if we're still close…no one had ever tried to rekindle that, so this person is probably long dead."

"Like…a human."

"I won't be surprised." Ludwig sighed. "Rizal, if I may ask this of you, do not tell this to anyone?"

"I won't tell anyone. I promise." Rizal quickly vowed. "Who else have you told this too?"

"Only Charice."

Rizal was taken aback by that statement, but again, he had mastered the poker face and that didn't translate on his face.

"You…haven't told Feliciano."

"I don't want to worry him about something this small." Ludwig stated. "Promise you won't say anything?"

"I-I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Thank you, Rizal."

"You're welcome."

Ludwig nodded as he walked away to continue with his day. Rizal couldn't help but look after him as he vanished into the building before finally letting the blush swarm over his cheeks.

_He's trusting me with something he won't tell Feliciano._ He rubbed his forehead. _This…this must be big._

He walked away, emotionally confused.

**/=+=/**

**Yes, there are filler. Odd enough, on a production note, if you people chose the guy for the main character Rizal would've been the main character. And it wouldn't be Li Xiao, it'd be Sun Tam **_**(Vietnam)**_**. For some reason, I want to say that out loud.**


	19. The Devil's Temptation and the Empress

**Filler is filler, what else can I say other than the disclaimers that you already know?**

**/= [DAY 23] =/**

"Charice, may I ask for your company during our lunch period?"

"Eh? Oh, sure Kiku."

Lunchtime rolled around, and Kiku led her back to the newspaper club room with the script to Les Mis in his hand. She sat down next to him as he pulled out a pencil and flipped over to a section of the play that she could not read nor comprehend. She decided to go along with it anyway.

"I told Feliciano and Ludwig that we were going to talk about the script, so we're able to get the room for ourselves." He stated.

"…that's…_**not**_ what we're doing?"

"If you want, we can talk about that instead." Kiku flipped through the pages. "But I'm more interested in the other world."

Well. That's a new concept.

"…how so? Despite the fact that it forces people to accept deep parts of themselves with witnesses…what's the interest?" She blinked.

"It's just that…never in the years that I've been alive have I heard of a place where people are forced to look into people's deepest secrets in such a violent manner." Kiku stated. "Not only that, the method of getting into that world is just so…modern."

"Eh? We usually use Matthew to get to where the other person is, right?"

"Usually. But just yesterday, I found something rather…interesting here."

"Hm?"

Kiku stood up and walked to the television set, lifting his hand and sticking it cleanly into the screen. Seeing as how she had seen Li Xiao do it a long time ago, this didn't really phase her. Still, it had been a while since she had seen that happen, so she was surprised he caught on.

"So…you can go into the TV into the other world?" She blinked.

"No…it's a lot more interesting than that. You should come take a look." He smiled. "Don't worry, it's harmless. I explored through it thoroughly yesterday."

"There's a passageway out?"

"Yeah. But I'm fine if you don't want to go in completely. Just take a look."

Charice blinked for a few minutes before doing so quickly. Inside, she couldn't help but notice that she was in the middle of a thick forest with a rocky pathway. She blinked in confusion before hearing chuckles a few feet away. She turned and was shocked to see that _**it was her**_, only younger and rambling on about something. The other Charice turned her head as if noticing something before smiling.

_["Hey…are you lost?"]_

The image of the person she was talking to came out to reveal that it was an extremely young Rizal, probably around the ages of three or four.

_["My name is Charice. Do you have a mother?"]_

_["…no."]_

_["That's OK. If not, I'll take care of you."]_

She blinked before reluctantly pulling her head out of the TV to a smiling Kiku, who only nodded toward the TV set that they were looking at.

"Apparently, anyone can go into the TV and relive segments of their past." He sighed and folded his arms. "Unfortunately, we're the only ones that can use it. I'd venture a guess that the others _(Li Xiao, Alfred, and the like)_ might be able to use this, but I'd rather not explore that possibility so openly as of yet."

"Wow…that's interesting." She blinked. _Too bad that only the people that can travel to the other world can use it…it'd help Doitsu-ki a lot._ "Are you going to tell the others?"

"Once it's determined that we don't have the ability to change the past. I don't want people messing up the time stream over the hidden murders." He answered. "So…can I ask that you can keep a secret?"

"Of course, of course~!"

She waved her hands to confirm the secret, only to almost nick herself on the cheek by an edge or two. Confused, she stared at the card in her hand to realize that it was an Arcana of the sun in what looked like a sunset scenario. She turned her head and saw a bright orange bird flying over the desks.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_Epic Japanese voice…now THAT I like :D_

**["AS THE BIRD THAT REPRESENTS THE CYCLE OF LIFE, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND"]**

She blinked in shock as the bird sank into her card, which then sank into her body. Charice was about to blow it off when she turned her head and realized that Kiku was staring at her with a rather surprised look on his face. She figured that it was because she zoned out for no reason whatsoever-

"Was that a Phoenix in the room?"

Or that.

"…you saw that?"

"Yeah…what was that?"

"Um…Arthur called them 'Social Links'. I didn't know if anyone else can see them, so…this is shocking."

"Well, if you're keeping this a secret, I can keep yours as well."

"Great…so how 'bout the play?"

**/= [DAY 26] =/**

For some reason, she had never felt the emptiness of the school before _(even if the academy that seems to house a thousand students only have about a hundred something)_, so when she came in for the morning she was surprised to see that there was no one in the hallways. _Where was everyone…?_

"Oh…I've seen you around before…what nation are you?"

She felt a few _**(HUNDRED BILLION **__**THOUSAND**__**)**_ shivers go down her spine before she turned her head and saw a man that literally TOWERED the poor woman. The fact that he wore a white-ish, pinkish scarf and had silver hair and purple eyes didn't save anything else on her consciousness.

"…t-t-the, uh…O-Outer Islands of the…R-R-R-R-Re…uh…Philippines." She stammered.

"Oh, I've heard of you…Charice, correct?" He laughed. "My name is Russia…or Ivan, if you prefer, since you seem to like using your human name."

"…Ivan…right…OK." _My GOD, is he tall._ "So…hi."

"You're interesting, Charice." He chuckled. _"Would you like to become one with me…?"_

"Um…no. I-I'd like to stay…alone for a while longer."

"Don't worry…everyone will soon be one with me…"

"Um…OK? Can I enjoy my independence until then?"

"…of course, if that is what you prefer." He smiled. "Are you going to rehearsal today?"

"…most…likely…it's the first scene that they need an ensemble for." She blinked. "So…yeah…"

"I'd like to see you there."

"…sure?"

Ivan chuckled as he walked away from her, leaving her to wonder if he's part of the **Europe** class. She scratched her head and felt a card nick her head. She saw the image to be a ram with a male and female demon(?) on it. Confused, she turned her head around to see a strange red demon with a pitchfork and bat wings hovering behind her.

**["I AM THOU, AND THOU ART I."]**

**["AS THE 68****TH**** SPIRIT AND LUCIFER'S RIGHT HAND MAN…I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

She stared at the image for a few minutes even after it sank into her body. The fact that the voice was _**EXTREMELY DEEP**_ compared to the actual voice of Ivan was creepy enough as it is…and even worse when it actually sounded like he could be capable of killing everyone in the building. What could be worse than that…?

"Charice? Is something wrong-"

"_**AUUUUUGGGGGHHH IT'S A GERMAN-RUSSIAN ALLIANCE! NOOOOO I DON'T WANT ANOTHER WORLD WAR! I DON'T WANT ANYONE FIGHTING MY BROTHER!"**_

**/=+=/**

She walked right into Matthew _(holding some form of bear…?)_ before heading into the auditorium where the others were waiting. She couldn't help but notice that Matthew was talking to his brother before someone passed by and began having a panic attack at the fact that there were two Americas. Again, she laughed.

"All right…I need everyone on stage please!" Francis chirped. "Hut hut!"

Charice could only shrug at the words before walking to the stage, accidentally bumping into someone. She chirped in surprise before noticing that she had bumped into the woman playing Fantine. What was her name, Elizabeta or something that long…?

"I'm sorry." She said respectively.

"No, it's fine." Charice answered. "I didn't see you."

"Well, I've never seen you before!" She laughed. "My name is Elizabeta, the Republic of Hungary!"

"I'm Charice, the Outer Islands of the Republic of the Philippines~!" She chirped. "I'm not a big role, so you don't have to try remembering me!"

"Oh, I see." Elizabeta laughed. "So are you having fun with this show?"

"Of course, of course~!" Charice waved her hands. "It's very exciting to watch it, but I guess it's more interesting to be in it."

"…so what's more interesting?"

"I guess watching it…since you have no idea what's going to happen next!"

"Oh, that is true! Well, I hope you don't mind the fact that you're going to have to be in it this time."

"I don't mind. Once I actually get into the show, I might like acting a lot better."

"You're going to enjoy this more, I guarantee it."

"_**AWESOME!"**_

She chirped and ran on the stage, almost pushing one off it. As Charice straightened herself, she couldn't help but notice a card in her hand it looked like a vase surrounded by flowers. She blinked and looked up from her position, seeing a fairy in a green dress and beautiful blond hair.

**["I AM THOU, AND THOU ART I."]**

_Wow…she sounds so majestic._

**["AS THE QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

Charice stood in her place as she watched the card sink into her body, and then turned her head to see that Roderich was getting into place behind the stage standing next to what looked like Ludwig…but it wasn't. According to the girl next to him, it was a man named Berwald…Sweden, she said. Whoever said that.

**/=+=/**

**Belial**** is the 68****th**** spirit in the Goetia, created after the infamous Lucifer and is a mighty king. He usually appears as an angel in a chariot with a calm voice. People can summon him to gain great powers, but the cost of summoning him is…pretty big, so who bothers? [Ivan Braginski - Devil]**

**Titania**** is the Queen of Spirits immortalized in the Shakespearean play **_**'A Midsummer Night's Dream'**_**. She's considered beautiful and delicate, but has powers that easily match that of her husband, Oberon. [Elizabeta Hedervary - Empress]**

**So…review~!**


	20. Another One of Alfred's Ideas

**Well then…more filler, I see~! I do not own Hetalia.**

**/= [DAY 27] =/**

"Lovi-chaaaan~"

"_**IT'S LOVINO!"**_

"Aw, Lovi-chan…"

Lovino gave up after a few minutes before turning around and seeing Charice literally tackle-glomp him to the ground, being careful not to smush any of the tomatoes. He screamed for a few seconds before finally realizing that he couldn't pry her off.

"Why the hell are you so clingy…?"

"Because you're so cute!" She chirped. "All cute things deserve to be showered with love~!"

"Son of a bitch…then why the hell don't you go ahead and shower mi fratello with all this love? God knows that he'll appreciate it more."

"Because I already did…and besides, Antonio's the only one I've seen that gives you this much attention!"

He froze, his body stiffening and signaling to Charice that something was wrong. She blinked for a few minutes before slowly loosening, allowing him to crawl away and turn his head in frustration. Charice tilted her head and…was he blushing?

"What…oh, you have a crazy stalker girl following you?"

"A-are you calling yourself a stalker?"

"Do you _**want**_ me to be a stalker?"

"_**Hell no!"**_

"Then I won't~!" Charice grinned. "Seriously, sometimes all you have to do is ask!"

"W-why would you ask about something like that?"

"…because people have the strangest answers. Some guys actually want stalkers."

"…no comment."

"Cause that's all you can say."

Lovino sighed and rolled his eyes, but from the look of things he actually enjoyed Charice's words…or was he? He was too _tsundere_ for her to get any concrete details. Before she knew it, she heard familiar laughter, and she turned her head to see Antonio with a basket.

"Are you having fun with her, Lovino?"

"N-no, of course not you bastard."

"Aww…you have to learn to show superiors with some form of respect, Lovi-chan…"

"_**IT'S LOVINO!**_ And aren't you younger than I am? You should be showing me respect!"

"…_but you're too cute…"_

"_**GOD DAMMIT ARGH!"**_

**/= [DAY 28] =/**

Studying actually does help to clear the mind. So when she snuck into the library during lunch to get some study time _(aka sleeping peacefully)_, she was shocked at the face of Alfred looking back at her. For one thing, he was in the library. That's a mindfuck right there. But what was weirder were the books that he was reading.

"…are these music books?"

"Yeah, what about them?" Alfred chirped.

"…why?"

"Well, ever since the school started working on the musical, I learned two things about everyone: one, there's a lot of talent." Alfred lifted his other finger. "Two: there aren't enough clubs in this school!"

"Because the school is just newly created. The school system barely started figuring out about sports clubs-"

"Oh, we got them, don't worry. This school's in America, meaning they'll be done in another week or two." Alfred chirped. "No…I got a club idea that I want to run."

"…baseball?"

"Sounds cool, but that isn't it."

"Um…is this a foreign related club?"

"Nooo…come on, guess!"

"…is it like a chorus?"

"_**IT'S A GLEE CLUB!"**_

_***facedesk***_

"You've been watching Glee on TV, haven't you?"

"It's my people's creation, of course~! I can't help but watch it! Besides, we have the people to run it, right?"

"Well, I can understand the talent portion…but…who's going to actually be vain enough to go ahead and join this?"

"Everyone, of course~!" Alfred chirped. "What else?"

"…and you're telling me this because…?"

"I want you to be the vice president, since you're a good singer and all!"

She blushed.

"Um…thanks? OK, I'll do it, even though I have no idea how in the world to run a club."

"That's great! Neither do I, so we can do this together!" He blinked. "Oh, and Artie too! I'm so dragging him into this."

"Love to see his reaction."

**/= [AFTER SCHOOL…] =/**

"Um…Alfred."

"Yeah?"

"Did you actually tell people about this idea?"

"…oh, whoops."

_That would explain the empty room._

Charice sat there next to Alfred as they stared at the empty chorus room that they were able to obtain from…well, no one, since the school never seems to use all of the music rooms other than the band and what might've been a newly created chorus.

"…you're horrible, Al-kun."

"Eheheh…I was so hyped up on the actual idea that I kinda forgot to tell people."

"…again, you're horrible."

Alfred chuckled at Charice's annoyed look on her face as he stood up and started arranging the chairs until they looked like the room used in Glee. She had to admit: she liked the show, but she never caught up on the hype. Maybe it's because it's usually about school drama? And of course, anime does a lot better on school drama. And movies.

"There you are."

They turned their heads to see Kiku standing there with piles of papers in his arms. Charice had to admit: they looked…heavy. Her own arms started to ache, and she was just holding her own hands.

"Who're you lookin' for?" Alfred asked.

"You, actually." Kiku stated. "We were planning on stocking up the printers, but we're having a hard time holding all these papers."

"Oh, no worries! I can handle this!" Alfred grinned and winked at Charice. "Wait here in case someone comes in!"

_Yeah…like who?_

She sighed and rolled her eyes as Alfred lifted a pack of papers with one arm and walked out of the room with the others, leaving her alone. For some reason, she was actually waiting there for someone to come around. After a few minutes of sinking into the fact that she was not going to see anyone around, she leaned back on her chair.

_Maybe I can start a Glee Club…this school needs a chorus, what with all the sports programs that will be nonetheless created…hm…that sounds like a cool idea._ She paused. _Though…there should be a teacher running all of this._

Then again, what teacher do they have in order to run something like this?

She'll have to sleep on this idea.

**/=+=/**

**Yeah…short chapter, but it's filler and they're usually days. I might do the Glee Club sideshow **_**(though it's not that fun if you're reading songs instead of listening to them, and yes I just got into Glee…a little bit)**_** if I have the patience and if people actually want it. So vote on the Glee Club! It's club credits on Charice's case, and it's the only idea I have for starting up the Temperance Link. I have a backup plan, so don't worry about saying no and not getting updates for **_**years.**_

**Review~!**

_**(By the way, anonymous reviews are allowed, so all you non-account fans can vote too!)**_


	21. It's GLEE TIME!

**So the people have voted. Let's see what the tallies added up to…!**

**/= [DAY 29] =/**

After a few minutes of thinking about it last night, Charice decided to go ahead and do it. Unfortunately, the minute she sat up she didn't want to start inviting people _(for some reason someone might get the wrong idea)_. So she decided to just make a poster and let them meet up in one of the empty chorus rooms. Five minutes of bullshiting it later, the poster was up in the lobby and Charice went on with her life.

School went on until it ended _(no Le Mis rehearsals, either~!)_, and Charice dragged herself into the chorus room with the high hopes that someone would come up so that she would have someone to talk to. Sure enough, no one showed up. A knock echoed on the doorway, and she turned her head to see Irunya staring at her.

"Mind if we come in?"

"We?"

"Yeah. The whole music club is here!"

"Oh…_**that**_ we…OK, sure."

Charice thought about her lack of boobs as the three of them started to walk into the empty room. She couldn't help but notice Roderich looking at her before looking around the room and realizing that there was literally no one save for the four of them.

"Um…why are you here?"

"We were told that there was a meeting for a glee club here." Eduard stated.

"There is…but everyone's probably too busy to come around." Charice sighed. "Well, this was a beautiful idea."

"It really was!" Irunya chirped _(her breasts accenting her support)_. "I mean, we need chorus clubs in this school!"

"Too bad…we were interested in creating a joint alliance with the glee club if enough showed up."

"…a what?"

"A joint alliance. In other words, every day that you have a rehearsal we come as well to help." Roderich stated. "Would that work for you?"

"If enough people show up, you got a deal."

"How many until that deal?"

"Enough to run a club, really."

Roderich took that as a yes _(how, we don't really know)_ as they continued to patiently wait for anyone who might come around. Charice was about to give up when a small image of a young girl peeked out from the door. She walked in, and it showed that it was a blond girl with large green eyes and a simple ribbon in her hair. The man behind him looked like a twin of hers: only his eyes were smaller and…was that a barrette on his head? He and Roderich were glaring at each other for some reason.

"May we help you?" Irunya asked.

"Is this the meeting place for that glee club on the poster?" The girl asked.

"Yeah, this is it!" Charice chirped. "As you can see…we don't have that many people in it yet, so…"

"That's fine! I told a lot of people about this, since it seems so interesting-oh, I should introduce myself. My name is Erika." She bowed. "He's Vash, my older brother."

"Well, I'm Charice. I have a brother too…but he's not here." She shrugged. "Well, disappointed?"

"Even though people aren't here, that doesn't mean that it's a failure." Erika stated. "It just means that we have to show people about this club."

"…so we just randomly sing until someone comes around?"

"This is a glee club, isn't it?" Erika smiled, obviously happy about the arrangement. "Let's sing something, Vash."

"…what, exactly?"

"I got it." Charice grinned. "No Air, by Rihanna and Chris Brown."

"Why are we singing an American song?"

"Because it's the first song that I thought up that didn't involve gratuitous material and doesn't bring up an image of drag queens."

"…what?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Oh, I know that song~!" Irunya chirped. "Do you know how to play it?"

"Barely…but I'll just fill in the blanks." Eduard stated.

"…I know enough." Roderich said while propping his glasses _(damn bishounen)_.

Before Charice knew it, they were singing the song to the accompany music. She had to admit, they sounded really good. Of course, she was singing along with Irunya _("I love this song!")_ while the other two were minding their own business. The door slid open again, and the image of Gilbert peeked inside with a girl from the **Africa** class. She didn't recognize her, but she had tightly braided hair and the **Africa** uniform that looked really good on her.

"You guys can come in, you know!" Charice chirped. "Registration is today, if you want in!"

"That's totally awesome, since I'm such a better singer than him!" Gilbert tried to scream over their awesome voices _(which retaliated with Roderich playing the piano just a little louder)_. "You coming in, Etana?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…whatever. It's more entertaining than the rest of the damn building." She answered.

They came in and before she knew it started singing the background of these two. Before she knew it, people were pouring in: Alfred _(of course)_, Arthur, Feliciano _(dragging in his brother)_, Elizabeta, another girl from the **Africa** class that she didn't know _(Arthur called her Seyel)_, Kiku, Yong Soo, Yao Wang…the whole room was packed at this point. In fact, at one point the kid known as Feliks came in and somehow started playing the clarinet, bargaining with Roderich on registration into the music club.

_Huh…this was a better idea than I thought!_ She chirped.

Through their voices, Charice was shocked to see that lights were coming out of Vash's and Erika's mouths as if their souls were leaving their bodies. However, she saw that it was only two social links _(because during their dance, Charice had accidentally shattered the cards)_, forming some kind of tinker bell girl and a dog surrounded by beads.

**["I AM THOU…"]**

**["AND THOU ART I."]**

…_this never happened before._

**["AS THE INHABITANT OF THE WIND…"]**

**["AS THE PROTECTOR OF WHAT I HOLD DEAR…"]**

**["WE ARE AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

The pixie thing started laughing as the cards sank into her body, startling Charice. However, the song was getting better and hence she forgot that she had just been harassed by cards and started to shimmy at the music. Well, then it ended. Whoops.

"Ve~~~is it over?"

"Dude, that was totally fun!" Alfred grinned. "Told you that the glee club's going to work!"

"Whoop de do." Charice laughed at her. "Nice to see that so many of you guys showed up! So…yeah, this is the glee club!"

"I love that show!" Elizabeta chirped.

"…exactly. We're basically like that, performing at any events that catch our eyes." Charice grinned. "Sign-up sheets are over there, so if you're going to be a permanent member go over there! Oh, and we meet weekly to compensate for the Le Mis rehearsals!"

They all charged into the line. She rolled her eyes to see that Matthew had been in the room this whole time, holding the bear that must've been Kumajiro from his mind world.

"Having fun here, Matt?"

"_A little bit."_

"Hey, the sign-ups are over there. Get to writing."

"_R-right…"_

Charice laughed as she saw the small mob that had formed. She had to admit: that was a whole lot more people than she had previously expected _(heck, it was more than the entire __Glee__ cast)_. She was going to be in for a huge ride of her life.

"Hey, Charice right?"

"Eh? Oh, your name is Feliks right?"

"Yeah." He leaned in with a smile. "Roderich's going into his happy mode."

"…_**why?"**_

"Well, check it! A whole bunch of nations signed up for the music club!" He grinned. "Hey, you take recommendations, right?"

"Um…sure."

"Just for one rehearsal…can you make them dress in drag?"

"Dude, I'm already thinking about it."

**/=+=/**

**Etana**** is Uganda. This is a little close to me because a while ago a group named ****Invisible Children**** came over to our school to talk about how a group of high schoolers single-handedly brought a militant group in Uganda to American attention by a simple documentary and how the militant group is now in hiding and now being hunted down by the UN. In fact, the bill that called for American involvement in taking him down was signed by Obama **_**(tells how recent this achievement was made)**_**. Uganda is now peaceful…well, more peaceful than most of the other nations. But yeah.**

**Erika**** is Liechtenstein. It's one of the names Himayura wanted to give her, so I went with it.**

**Sylph**** is basically that: a pixie that is cheerful and mischievous with control over the wind. They're one of the more well known legends. [Erika Vogel - Temperance]**

**Yatsufusa**** is from the novel **_**Nonso Satomi Hakkenden**_**, in which a lord jokingly promises his daughter's hand in marriage to a dog if it could defeat his enemy. It ends up that the dog comes back with his head, the lord not liking it, but the girl goes away anyway. Odd stuff, really. [Vash Zwiligi – Hanged Man]**

**And hence even more subplots are born. **_**Don't you just love 'em?**_


	22. Making Amends with Each Other

**Wow…so many Social Links. No wonder Persona 3 and 4 are so stressful…**

**/= [DAY 30] =/**

"So, Charice…you're runnin' a glee club now?"

"Yep, exactly. You should know, you joined it Gilbert."

The albino laughed out loud, scaring the crap out of her. That must be the little part of German in his blood _(hey, his accent had something like German…it had to be something)_ that's creeping her out. Either that, or he was just really annoying and her fear was just the cover.

"Ahahaha…it's only awesome now that I'm in it, of course!"

_Sure…we'll say it's that._ "Can you even sing?"

"Duh! Haven't you heard me back in that room? _**I killed them, dude!"**_

_Sure…maybe that was why my ears were bleeding…_

It was then that Gilbert continued to sing something that should've been "No Air", but it was so horrible that Charice was again clawing at her ears. By the time he was done, she couldn't tell where the majority of the blood was coming from: her ears or her nails. All she knew was that the smell of the blood was killing her.

"Soo…" He grinned. "What do you think?"

"…_awesome…now leave me alone."_

**/=+=/**

"Hey, ate. You free this lunch period?"

"Yep, course I am!"

Charice stood up and saw Rizal as he lifted up two bags filled with lunches _(one obviously being for her)_, grabbing hers and drooling as he led her to his usual eating place: the gardens _(out of all places)_. At least he had a tree he could hang out in that no one can annoy him around.

"Huh…this place has a nice view of the inside of the building."

"Yeah. People usually don't come here, so I come here in case I need a break." He smiled. "And god knows I need it."

"Well, I'll need it too. Rehearsals are today, and rumors are going around that we're doing the **Lovely Ladies** song."

"Oh great…the song about the prostitutes?"

"Yep. Do we even have enough girls to do that scene?"

"…you could always ask some of the guys to cross-dress. That Feliks guy might agree to it."

"OK, _**one**_ guy. We need a whole bunch of them, you know."

"…can't help you."

"Thanks, Rizal. Helpful as always."

He took the joke with a chuckle, but Charice couldn't help but notice something in his eyes: sadness? Footsteps walked toward them, and they turned their heads to see that Ludwig had been looking for them. She couldn't help but notice again that Rizal's poker face had a little hint of shock on it.

"…hi…Ludwig." He blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming newspaper article that you wanted to put in the paper." He stated. "Feliciano is doing the glee club and the music club, so you're going to have to choose something different."

"That's fine. I'll do the baseball and soccer teams."

"Wait, wait, wait…" Charice turned her head. "You're in the newspaper club?"

"Yeah. Hey, not all of us are talented with pretty voices." Rizal shrugged. "By the way, how's that glee club of yours?"

"People…like it apparently. We're meeting next week, so…"

"All right." Rizal grinned.

"Please tell me that you're at least keeping up with your studies, Charice."

"You don't have to father me, Doitsu-ki. I'm Asian, I can handle this!"

During that sentence, Charice took a quick glance and saw something strange: Ludwig's eyes had a strange shadow over them for about half a second. She decided that it was probably just from the tree and instead saw the strange little look on Rizal's face. _Geez, he looked like a GIRL…_

"That means nothing, Charice."

"It does to _**me."**_

"…right…" He turned to Rizal. "Are you going to be at the meeting tomorrow?"

"Why isn't it today?"

"Rehearsals…they need Javert…" Ludwig sighed.

"Aww...don't tell me you're complaining!" Charice chirped. "You're an awesome Javert!"

"Um…thanks." _Was he blushing?_ _And was Rizal blushing from that?_ Geez, what'd she walk into?

"You wouldn't be Javert if you sucked. I mean, Gilbert didn't get the role for a reason!"

"Pffft." Rizal choked. Don't tell him that."

"I won't, don't worry." Charice cackled. "As long as you don't."

"My lips are sealed."

**/=+=/**

"We have to be _**WHAT?"**_

"That's the scene, mademoiselle~! You have to be a whore!"

"_**Oh come on!"**_

That was basically the scene going through everyone's head as Charice went in for today's rehearsal. All the girls did not want to dress like skanky hoes around Francis, and…can you really blame them? She couldn't help but try to think what French whores looked like back then.

"_Are you complaining about the next scene?"_

"Eh?" She turned her head. "Um…I guess. I mean, I'm fine with the costumes, it's just…I don't have the body for it, you know?"

"_W-w-what…?"_ Matthew blushed.

"Whores are supposed to have a good body, right? Heck, these are French whores, so that's justified!" Charice stated. "I don't even have the boobs to fill up a bikini! I mean, look at this!"

It was then _(and apparently only then)_ that she grabbed his hand and threw it on her chest without a second thought. A half-second passed by before Matthew screamed in panic and jumped away with the deepest blush that she had ever seen.

"_C-C-C-Cha…"_ He gave up trying to breathe at that point.

"Come on, you hung out with Francis. You've seen better boobs than this!"

"_B-b-b-b-b-b-b-but I've…never touched them before…"_ He slapped himself in the forehead.

"You want to try it again."

"_**NO!"**_

"OK, just asking."

Matthew stared at her, wondering just what the heck is wrong with this girl. But nonetheless, that wasn't the only entertaining thing that was going on today. For once they turned toward the stage…

"OK, the script says that you Fantine are taken away by a sailor…"

"A sailor?"

"And they dress you up like a whore behind the others right here." Kiku pointed behind an X. "Before you take your solo."

"So…who's the sailor that takes me out?"

"Why, me mademoiselle~!"

"Oh my god, _**I'm whoring with you?"**_

"**THAT'S JUST **_**DISGUSTING**_, man! Stop being so cruel!"

**/= [DAY 31] =/**

She stepped out into the sunlight as she walked toward the tomato garden with a smile on her face. For some reason, she's been having a hard time trying to find Feliciano, so she decided that she was going to harass Lovino. Hell, that's a fun time for her, right?

However, when she got there, she was surprised to see that it was only Antonio at the garden. The Spaniard couldn't help but smile and wave at her to join him, and of course she couldn't help but do that.

"How's this school doing to you, Charice?" He chirped.

"Eh, it's been doing OK to me." She smiled. "I started a glee club."

"I heard that~!" He answered. "I also heard that my dear Lovi had joined it!"

"Well, Feli-chan kinda dragged him into it, but yeah Lovi-chan's in it." She cackled. "Why, are you interested?"

"But of course! I always wanted to hear my dear Lovi sing! He always said that he's such a horrible singer."

"Well, then again, so is Gilbert, but let's not go into that."

"Ahahaha! Of course!"

She shook her head as they continued to tend to the tomato garden. After a few minutes, she took a glance at Antonio. He was smiling like a nutcase and tending to the tomatoes like they were his babies. Was this how he raised Lovino, with a lot of love and pedophiliac desires…?

"I'm glad, though…"

"Hm?"

"You grew up to be a fine young woman." Antonio smiled at her. "So forgiving and kind…despite what I've done to you."

"You…regret it?"

"I was a teenager at that time, Charice…so headstrong, wanting to be stronger." He had a sad smile. "And as a result, I didn't bother to care for anything except my goals, using everyone to achieve them."

"So you wanted to be stronger."

"That's the goal of all empires, Charice."

"…why?"

"Eh?"

"Isn't it true that people usually want to get stronger to protect the people they love?" She stated, stealing a tomato. "And not to sound annoying, but didn't you want to protect Lovi-chan?"

"…Charice…"

"I've checked up on my history. That Sadiq guy took a hold of Lovino, and then you took him back using the majority of your force, am I correct?" Charice smiled. "You just wanted to protect Lovi-chan with every resource you can get your hands on, even me and my brother."

"…are you saying that you're forgiving me?"

"My brother did the same thing during my civil wars and World War II. I probably won't _'forgive you'_, but at least I understand what you were thinking." She shrugged. "And come on, Lovino's kinda a klutz! I can't really blame you for that!"

"Hm…well, Alfred was right?"

"Hah?"

"You're too forgiving…you're so unlike your brother."

"That's just Rizal. He's just harsh on people that took us over. You, Alfred, Kiku, even Arthur!" She sighed. "But especially you. On my note, I forgive you."

Antonio's eyes widened _(something that Charice thought would never happen)_ before that smile returned back on his face. His body began to glow and it formed into a card, turning into the image of a purple man with a horned helmet and looking quite intimidating.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_Antonio…?_

**["AS THE ETERNAL GOD OF WAR AND VICTORY, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

The fact that a Social Link was forming with Antonio startled her as the card sank into her body _(through her eating a tomato…who knew?)_. She blinked as Antonio turned toward her with that same smile on his face, only…it made her surprisingly calm.

"I can make up for lost time."

"Hm?"

"I won't make you a colony, Charice…but I want to try raising you at least." He stated. "You already know a few things, but I can teach you a few other things that you might not know. Can I do that for you?"

"…sure, why not? I won't complain."

"…thank you."

**/=+=/**

**Odin**** is the chief god of Norse paganism, associated with wisdom, war, battle and death. Oddly enough, he's also associated with magic, poetry, prophecy, victory, and the hunt. He's missing one eye because he said he gave it up in order to achieve true wisdom. [Antonio Hernandez Corriedo - Emperor]**

**So keep reading and reviewing~!**


	23. SOCCA SOCCA, DOITSU DOITSU!

**So more filler to come~! God, don't you just love them filler chaps :D**

**/= [DAY 32] =/**

"Charice, are you all right?"

She looked up and saw Li Xiao staring back at her with a blank look on his face. Then again, he always has a blank look on his face. Geez, he's just like Rizal sometimes…only twice as creepy. Wait, is that even possible? Oh well, it had to be in case.

"Why do you ask?"

"You've been zoning out a lot more than usual."

"Am I now?"

"Of course you are. You zoned out right now."

"…huh. I did." She blinked. "What do you want?"

"We're talking about the P.E class that's going to happen in about an hour." He stated. "It's the **Asia** class and the **North America** class versus the** Europe **class. Are you willing to be a forward?"

"Like, the person that stands in the front and chases all the others down?"

"Yeah…that forward."

"…I'm a fast runner. Sign me up."

"All right then." Li Xiao wrote it down on the notepad. "Your other forwards so far is Alfred, Rizal and me…we don't know if someone else might come in."

"Um…how big are these teams?"

"Pretty big. The **Europe** class is extremely huge, hence our fusion with the **North America** class." He nodded.

"Wow…this sounds big."

"Yeah…I think they're setting up their team as we speak. I should set up the rest of the team…if you excuse me…"

**/=+=/**

Húdié Mei had a lot of fun making uniforms for the team, so when it was finally time for the P.E class to start everyone had their own little uniform _(for some reason, they were Japanese high school tight…she could just hear the perverts)_ to run into. And when they got to the field, she saw that the **Europe** class had a uniform as well. Who makes these uniforms…?

"So…we go against the big team, eh?" Alfred chuckled. "I'm not showing any mercy to them, and you better not either!"

"Mercy? What's that, a chocolate candy~?" Charice chirped. "Cause I'm eatin' all of it once they're crying in the dirt!"

"_You two scare me…"_

"They scare me too, Matthew." Rizal sighed. "…oh, shit."

"_W-what is it?"_

It was then that they realized just what the problem was: the lead was Ludwig. And by the look on her face, Charice's phobia was kicking in. This was not going to be good for the team. After a few minutes, Charice started slapping her face rapidly to the point of her face turning red.

"I'm OK, I'm fine~!" She shivered. "I'm a-OK why wouldn't I be I mean this is just a soccer game there's nothing serious about it so why should I be worrying ahahahaha…"

"We are so screwed." Li Xiao sighed.

"No, I think I have something we can use…"

Rizal stretched his fingers out and lightly pulled the smaller of Charice's cowlicks, making her shiver. Alfred shivered at the thought as Rizal whispered something in her ear before heading next to Li Xiao. He turned to Matthew and nodded with an "a-OK" sign.

"I think I got her out of it…" He stated. "Though you might have to avoid eye contact with her, Matthew."

"_Um…w-why?"_

"I got her to at least get out of the phobia."

"_H-how…?"_

"Well, I got her into Cute-Obsession mode."

"_W-WHAAT?"_

The game started. Ludwig passed the ball to Feliciano _(a smart move, since he was a fast runner)_, but did not count on the fact that Charice was in Cute-Obsession mode. A few minutes later, he accidentally scored for the other team just trying to get away from her…and then they had to call a time-out cause she was still chasing him.

"**VEEEEE~~~! Germany, help meeeeeee!"**

"_**YAAAAAAY I always wanted an Italian~!"**_

Rizal had to pull her down to Earth with a yank of the longer cowlick, at which she freaked out from Ludwig's sudden approach and hid behind Alfred. The game continued with Charice in a mellowed-out version of Cute-Obsession mode _(which was nothing more than Yandere-like looks toward Feliciano and Lovino, scaring the hell out of them)_. Nonetheless, none of them seemed to handle Ludwig. In fact, every time Charice and/or Li Xiao got through the defensemen and toward the goal, Ludwig would somehow just _**PUNT the damn ball**_ to the other side of the field. So one time, she decided to try catching the ball that he would punt and allowed Yong Soo to switch with her.

Bad idea.

The ball was supposed to land on her chest and she can just kick it to Alfred who was waiting next to her. Instead, she got face-raped by the soccer ball and fell to the ground, allowing Antonio to score into the goal. She sat up and saw a worried Feliciano and Matthew leaning toward her.

"_Are you OK, Charice?"_

"Ve~~~Ludwig didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Um…not really…" _Just traumatized me for another few lives…_

"_Are you sure…?"_

"Yeah…hold on…" She stood up. "OK, no headaches~! I'm good!"

Rizal stared at her for a few minutes before turning toward Ludwig, who had the same look of worry on his face. He sighed with relief and saw the Filipino boy's protective glare, nodding at the revenge that he is most likely going to get from him. And that is just what he got.

The entire rest of the game was nothing more than a chase between Ludwig and Rizal, the others playing as 'support' _(if you can call it that)_. After a few minutes, the game was over and the **Asia/ North America** class barely won by a point, but not before the rest of the team members were exhausted beyond belief.

"Man…that was such a heated match!" Alfred chirped through his sweat. "What do you think, Charice?"

"…_can't…feel…lungs…moving…hurts…to…think…ow…"_

"Yeah, we totally won this!"

"…_ooowwwwwww…"_

**/= [DAY 34] =/**

"Aww…you're so cute when you blush, Iggy-kun~"

"Shut up, Charice…and since when did you start calling me by that?"

"When Alfred started to, duh~"

Arthur blushed and turned away as he continued to arrange the books in the library, tuning his brain away from the curious Filipina that was stalking him through the bookshelves. After a few minutes, he sighed and turned his head back to her with a disgusted look on his face.

"Do you want to ask me something?"

"Yeah! How are you and Alfred?"

"N-none of your business!"

"Then why are you reading a Self-Help book for Love?"

"Gah!" He hid it back into the shelves. "I-I-I-I-I was only shelving it! L-Ludwig was looking into that book!"

"…now why in the world was he looking into a Self-Help book for Love?"

"M-maybe he just needed help on a relationship?"

"…are you saying that Ludwig's interested in someone?" Her eyes sparkled. "Is it Feli-chan? No, no…wait…is it my brother?"

"H-how am I supposed to know?"

"It _**IS**_ my brother, isn't it! I knew it, just by the way he looked at him during that soccer match yesterday…there was some unresolved sexual tension...god that is adorable…"

"…are you pairing Ludwig up with people? I thought you hated him!"

"_**Scared**_ of him, Iggy-kun. That's completely different. Besides, I've seen kuya go goo-goo eyed for him and deny it…maybe if I can get him to accept his feelings…then again, Ludwig might like Feli-chan…_**gah this is so hard to do!**_ Why is pairing people harder than it looks?"

"Maybe it's because it's none of your business?"

"True, true…hm…but at least I should confirm if Ludwig likes someone." _Or if that someone is from his hidden past…I should check in on that._ "Well, good luck with your relationship problems!"

"_**I AM NOT HAVING RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS!"**_

"Is that why you're holding a sex-ed book?"

**/=+=/**

"Ah, now we go into the cart scene. Everyone, get in place."

"Um…" Charice turned to Kiku. "What's the cart scene?"

"It's a scene where Valjean lifts a heavy cart off of a crushed passenger with his bare hands." He answered. "It's homage to the fact that Valjean is a strong man, and that's when we learn that someone was arrested in his place."

"Well…who's the sad soul who's forced to be Roderich's duplicate?"

"That would be Matthew, I believe."

"…they don't look a thing alike."

"We're going to dye his hair brown and put a dot on his mouth."

"_Oohhhhhh…"_

She shrugged as she moved into position, watching Francis tell a bunch of people what they're doing and having an argument with Gilbert over the fact that Roderich probably couldn't even hold up a pen if it was past a few pounds, leading Roderich to start arguing with them and hence holding the show back _(way to go)_. Fortunately, Matthew was standing next to her and…

"Um…Matthew?"

"_Eh? Wh-what's up?"_

"What's with the bear in your hands?"

"_Oh, him? You're talking about Kumajiro. He's my pet."_ He smiled. _"Say hi, Kumajiro."_

"…who are you?"

"_Canada…"_

"Wow…Alzheimer's patient, much?"

"_No, he just has a hard time remembering my name…just like everyone else."_

"**Eh?** I thought people are starting to remember you!"

"_You and Li Xiao, yes…and a little bit of my brother…but everyone else is…still a little hard."_

"Hm…why? Is it because you're so quiet that no one can hear you even over a dropping pin?"

"_No, no…they keep thinking I'm Alfred…"_

"…you…sound _**nothing**_ like Alfred."

"_I know, but…we just look the same, that's all."_

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-but you have purple eyes and wear a hoodie!"

"_Yet people still think that I'm America…"_

"Well, I guess it's either getting mistaken for your brother or being remembered as the nation that brought the chick-magnet abomination known to the world as Justin Bieber."

"_Y-yeah, um…I'm sorry about that, by the way…"_

"Nah, it's fine. He brings Canadian pride to everyone, the same way Charice is to mine!"

"…_the same way you bring to yourself?"_

"No, no, no! Charice Pempengco! The infamous YouTube singer! The only difference is that she's not a chick-magnet."

"…_I guess…"_

"But you're still trying to be your own nation that's _**not**_ Bieber-mania."

"…_yeah…"_

"Hm…" She stared at Kumajiro. "Has your polar bear ever attacked anyone?"

"_N-no, of course not! Kumajiro would never do that to anyone!"_

"…would you _**like**_ Kumajiro to attack anyone?"

"…_no…please don't…"_

**/= [DAY 35] =/**

"Ve~~~"

"What's wrong with you?"

"I'm bored…Ludwig's with Kiku on a newspaper meeting, and left me out of it. Kiku gave me this manga so that I can read while I wait…"

"Sweet~! Can I have a read?"

"Ve~~~of course! I just don't get most of it…"

Charice blinked for a few minutes before reading it. From the art, it looked like a doujinshi of some sort _(what it's based off of, she can't tell)_. After a few minutes of flipping around, she saw a rather interesting sight: two men were kissing. _**Two hot men were kissing.**_ And why did they both look like Gilbert and Matthew?

"H-how far did you read in this?"

"Ve~~~I read all of it."

"So…you're not bothered with the two guys kissing?"

"No…I've kissed a boy once."

If it was possible to choke on air, she was choking on it right now. Otherwise, it was probably spit. Meanwhile, the inner Yaoi fangirl was screaming in such ecstasy that other people's inner thoughts probably heard it, and then it goes ahead to break the sound barrier.

"R-really?" _And so nonchalantly too._

"Yes…so it doesn't really bother me." Feliciano smiled…it was oddly sad. "He was so kind to me…"

Charice didn't know what to say for fear of touching a nerve and making him cry and hence activating her Cute-Obsession mode _(don't want that :D)_, so she continued reading the doujinshi…until she hit a certain page. And the page was…um…well, very M-rated. Her inner Yaoi fangirl was pleased for the hour.

"Uuuuuuuhhhhmmmm…" She blinked. "You read the entire manga, right?"

"Ve~~~of course I did."

"So…you read this part."

"I did. It seems interesting."

_**DON'T SAY THAT, YOU'RE MAKING MY INNER YAOI SADIST HAPPY!**_ "You're…not bothered by the Yaoi?"

"Not that, no…and what's Yaoi?"

_My god, I'm dealing with an innocent one._ "Um…have you ever heard of the phrase the birds and the bees?"

"Yes."

"Well…Yaoi is just that…only without the birds."

"So it's just the bees?"

"Just the bees. And a lot of sweet, sticky…gooey honey."

"I don't get it."

"I'm glad you don't, and I sure as hell hope it stays that way."

"Ve~?"

**/=+=/**

**Points to you if you get what I meant in the end XD**


	24. For the Glee Club is Messed Up

**Who's getting sick of the filler episodes? I AM! But heck, I have to write them in just in case, right? Blech. Persona has a way of doing this to you…**

**/= [DAY 37] =/**

"Charice…"

"**GAH!"** She blinked. "Oh…Ludwig…hi…there…"

"Um…is your phobia kicking in now?"

"Um…just a little…but hey, the baseball team is practicing over there, so it's not that bad."

"I don't get your phobia at all, Charice."

"Eh?"

"You say that you're scared of Germans…yet can handle me perfectly fine when there are other people in the room…why?"

Charice sighed and mumbled to herself as she knew that Ludwig was looking for an answer. After a few minutes, she sat down on the nearby bench and made no movement as Ludwig sat down next to her. He was extremely tall, the only confirmation that she had at the time.

"It happened around World War II or such, when Kiku invaded me. He invited over some German soldiers who were going to report his condition to your boss." Charice sighed. "They just so happened to find me hiding somewhere, and…well…tried to_ 'have their way' _with me."

Ludwig was speechless.

"Of course, Rizal was there to save me, so they didn't do anything physical, but…they were so tall, they were even able to block out the sunlight that was shining on the trees that day." She rolled her eyes. "And that, my friend, is where my phobia was born."

"…Charice, I…"

"Nah, it wasn't your fault. You didn't give the order, and you weren't one of the soldiers, so what's there to apologize about?" She sighed again. "Then again, now I can't be alone with Germans."

"…are you at least trying?"

"Yeah. The baseball team is practicing over there, so it's not affecting me as much…but I'm still trying my best not to…run screaming." Charice smiled. "Besides, you're a really nice person…as far as Feliciano and Rizal are concerned."

"…Rizal thinks I'm nice?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't he? I think he looks up to you." She laughed. "Congratulations, you have a fan."

"Wait a minute…" He was obviously flustered. "W-what does he look up to me for?"

"…tallness? That might be it." She stared at him. "I dunno, I never really got to ask specifics about it, so I don't know."

"…huh…no one's ever told me that before…" Ludwig leaned back on the bench. "Especially from Rizal."

"Why? He's sixteen, he has to have some idols."

"Yeah, but…from what I heard from both Antonio and Alfred, they're scared of him."

"Did anyone tell you why, though?" Charice blinked. "No one is ever willing to go into specifics about it…he's my brother, I deserve to know!"

"No one told me anything specific either, so I don't know either." Ludwig rubbed his chin. "Though, when I look at him, he does seem to have that look of a man who's been through a lot…"

"Two civil wars. Between Spain and between America. He fought both of them."

"He fought them…? And you?"

"No, he wouldn't let me fight. He said in case he fell in battle, the Philippines would still stand." She shivered. "Though I hate having to think about it."

"…is that why you two don't like wearing each other's colors?" Ludwig turned to her. "You told me before that you were scared of wearing the color blue…and he's scared of wearing red."

"Yeah…that's about it. Filipino tradition dictates that when the Philippines are at war, the flag is flipped upside down. That means that when wartime comes, Rizal and I switch our colors." She answered. "When Rizal wears red, that means he has to go to war…and I get left behind."

"Charice…I'm sorry…"

"It's fine. No one can do anything about the past, can they? All they can do is remember and move on."

"…yeah…remember."

It was then that she saw it again: a strange shadow going over his eyes. It didn't look right…but it fit perfectly well over him. Before she could say anything, her nerves gave out and she threw herself off the chair and behind the tree that was a few feet away. Ludwig blinked before realizing that the baseball team had left the area. He sighed.

"I forgive you, Charice…you can go now."

"Um…a-are you sure?"

"We're about done with lunchtime and we should be heading back to class…"

"Are you sure…?"

"Yeah…I'm sure."

Ludwig stood and walked away, rubbing his forehead, and that's when she knew that something was definitely troubling him. Unfortunately, she didn't have the nerves nor the words to even begin to ask him. Maybe he is having a hard time trying to find his past? Unless he's not…?

**/=+=/**

"Ne…you're still recruiting for your glee club, aren't you?"

"Yeah…basically." She stared at Ivan's tallness. "Why…you're interested?"

"Just a little bit. Then again, I heard that my sister is in it as well, and I want to pay a visit."

"Oh, you mean Irunya? She's not in it per say, but she's in the music club, where we have a joint alliance or whatever they called it."

"Hm? You know my sister."

"Well, I know her…but she never told me you were related. I did assume it, though…you two looked alike."

"Of course we look the same, da?"

"…da?"

"Of course." He smiled. "I'll be there today."

"Sure…OK."

Ivan smiled as he nodded and walked away to his next class. Charice was about to do the same thing when she felt a strange chill down her spine. She turned her head around and saw a girl standing a few feet away from her, her eyes glaring with jealousy and what looked like kitchen knives in her hands…wait, _**knives?**_

"**GYAAAAAAAHHH!"**

"He's _**miiiinnneee…"**_

"OK, OK, I get it! Geez, I didn't even know he was hitting on me!"

"What were you two talking about?" She demanded.

"The…the uh…the glee club meeting later today!" She stated. "Um…it's in the second music hall in the music wing! You'll see a sign that says Glee Club on it, so you can't miss it!"

"…I'll be there."

"OK, OK…w-what's your name? For…for record purposes."

"…Natalya. Natalya Arloyskaya."

"…Natalya…OK…"

She backed up and headed out of the hall toward her next class. Charice wiped her forehead and sighed when she felt paper between her fingers. She stared at the image on it _(a heart with the silhouettes of a man and woman)_ before looking up. Instantly, she saw the figure of a woman with long platinum blonde hair and a seductive dress pulling at a flower.

_Oh…god…_

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

**["AS THE FAIRY SEEKING LOVE FOREVER, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

The card sank into her body as she cursed out her luck. She had to figure out her problem? _Fan-__**bloody**__-tastic_.

**/=+=/**

"So…welcome to the second glee club meeting!" Charice stated. "We have some newcomers, just in case no one noticed, but…today I was informed that we're going to perform for the Halloween show."

"There's a Halloween show? That's awesome, da ze!" Yong Soo chirped and stood up. "We're in it?"

"Main show. Some other clubs are doing stuff, but we're the main performance." She stated. "So anyone have any clues on what they want to do?"

"I, like, totally stand by what I want." Feliks chirped.

"And…what is that?" Yao Wang asked.

"Duh! Everyone, like, cross-dresses! Total _**drag!"**_

…

"I'm up for it."

"**DAMMIT** Charice I am _**not**_ cross-dressing for this!"

"We'll do a majority vote then." Charice grinned.

"Hold up, hold up!" Etana lifted her hand. "What song are we doing?"

"Hm…yeah, we have to figure that out…"

"Hey, I got a song! It's dubbed on Glee too, so we can do it!" Alfred grinned. "Valerie by Amy Winehouse!"

"…we can totally, like, do drag for that song."

"Oh, yeah, totally."

"That sounds like fun, brother."

"Don't tell me you're into it too, Erika…"

"Ve~~~can we do this, fratello?"

"_**Hell to the FUCKING **__**NO!**__**"**_

"I am so interested in doing drag, da ze!"

"I guess that means I'm wearing pants!" The girl named Seyel chirped.

"Actually, I just got a theme for this!" Alfred stood up. "1920s flappers!"

"Why the hell are we doing American history for this?"

"Because the women were flappers!"

"Yeah, and I think the dresses were longer. So all the men can keep their innocence while dressing up!"

"This is sounding so cool!"

"_Elizabeta's going insane again…"_

"This is getting so weird, aru…_I have to wear a dress…"_

"Eh? But you're a girl, Yao! You'd be wearing a suit, right?"

…

"Uh…o-oh yeah…yeah, I'd totally wear a suit!"

"_**DAMMIT YOU CHINK YOU ARE **__**NOT**__** GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!"**_

"Eh?"

"_Does that mean that big brother gets to be in a dress…?"_

"Uh…t-that's not necessary, Natalya…"

"We're going to have to, like, figure out his size."

"W-wha…? Does that mean I have to be in a bloody dress?"

"Aw, come on, Arthur! Don't you dress up for Alfred?"

"I-in suits, dammit!"

"_It's a lie, Elizabeta…totally a lie."_

"**DAMMIT Alfred!"**

"Wait a minute…what kind of suits are the women dressing up into?"

"Well, the mafia was prominent in the 1920s…so mafia suits?"

"Ve~~~me and fratello can help out there!"

"No…I am NOT participating in this!"

"Ve~~~why not…?"

"Hey, Charice! Does the music club have to dress in drag?"

"Hm…if you're hiding in the pit then no…though I would really like to see Roderich in drag~"

"Please, no…"

"Aw…"

"So no drag for the music club? That's totally unawesome!"

"But you're going to be in a dress!"

"Which will make me the most womanly man on the glee club!"

"Hell no, I'm going to be a lot more womanly than you are!"

"Bring it, burger boy!"

"Guys, guys! We all know who the most womanly one of us is." Elizabeta grinned. "It's Feli!"

"Ve~?"

"Oh yeah, he's totally womanly!"

"But he's so _**ADOWABLE!"**_

"OK, are we ever going to even sing in this glee club?"

"We will, Etana. I just wanted to give that out of the way." Charice smiled. "So does anyone want to start?"

"Actually, I want to try something!" Elizabeta stated. "I'm having a bet with Húdié Mei that I can't make Feli sexy!"

"_**WHY THE HELL **_would you even bring that up? This isn't a fashion show!"

"Yeah! Besides, Feli-chan is just too adowable to make sexy~!"

"_Ve~~~you're squeezing me too hard, Charice…"_

"Hey, I have it I have it!" Alfred lifted his hand. "Pick me, pick me!"

"OK, what is it Al?"

"We get Feliciano to sing a Britney Spears song!"

…

"This club is getting messed up."

"But it's fun, da?"

"I'm, like, totally up for that!"

"Ve~~~what song am I singing?"

"Please tell me that it's nothing too slutty…"

"Stronger. From her old albums."

"Oh…that's good."

"Ve~~~I know that song…"

"OK, stop stop stop. Someone please tell me how in the world this is going to make him sexy."

"Um…if I may…"

Charice blinked as Erika stood up and whispered something in Feliciano's ear. He nodded in acceptance for a few minutes before she allowed the music to start and he started singing. The only thing going through everyone's minds is _god, he has no shame…_ before he continued to sing. He wasn't…bad. But towards the end, his eyes suddenly flashed open, golden hazels shining toward the group. And with that cute smile of his…

Cute-Obsession Mode GO!

**/=+=/**

**Leanan Sidhe**** is a fairy / beautiful woman that takes human lovers. They offer inspiration to artist in exchange for fame and glory…however, the artist usually goes mad and suffers premature death. The only problem is that if the man refuses his love, she ends up being his slave. Sucks, really. [Natalya Arloyskaya - Lovers]**

**And I end with a Persona 4 Comic Dub~ :D**


	25. Victim Number Three

**OK, enough screwing around! Let's go into non-filler!**

**/= [DAY 38] =/**

"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!"

Charice blinked at the voice as she sat up in her bed. At least the sleeping time was reasonable. She stretched her legs and sat up, not caring that she was in her PJs and staring out the door to see happy-go-lucky Gilbert laughing drunk with his usual drinking buddies. She decided not to try saying anything as she stared at all of them heading down deeper into the building.

_Thank god it's Saturday._ She thought. _I'm heading into street clothes._

She headed back into her room and dressed up into her usual red attire. As she grabbed her sun pin, she noticed that her iPod was playing at full battery. She stared at it for a few minutes before plugging it into her ears for her to listen. After a few minutes, she realized that she had fallen asleep with the iPod and that was probably it.

**/= ["Defying Gravity" by Idina Menzel] =/**

"OK, it's Saturday…fortunately this is America meaning that we don't have class and hence I can- _**GYAAH!"**_

"_Ack! I-I'm sorry…"_

She blinked and turned her head around, noticing that she was alone in the outside. She began to panic until she noticed that Kumajiro was staring at her from where he was sitting. After a few minutes, she turned her head back up and finally seeing a familiar blond hair hovering next to her.

"You're fine, Matthew. I didn't see you."

"_I know you didn't…"_

"Ahaha…true, true." She chuckled. "So…what're you doing in the **Asia** dormitory?"

"_I thought you got the text message?"_

"Eh?"

She flipped open her phone and saw a new text message.

_Everyone gather in the lobby of the dormitories. There's a chance that the killer is going to strike again. - Arthur_

"Ohhhh…OK, that's cool." She nodded. "Let's go."

**/=+=/**

The minute they got there, everyone was already assembled around Arthur, whose fingers hadn't stopped shaking. Charice got confused as she sat down across from him and saw that Arthur was slowly stopping, allowing the both of them to make quick eye contact.

"You're recovering…that's good." Alfred smiled. "I was getting worried."

"What the hell happened?" Charice asked.

"W-well, I…I was visiting Arthur…"

"In his bedroom?"

"…anyway, when I was there, I saw that he was shaking uncontrollably. Before I could ask anything, he asked for his cell phone and sent out the message."

"Huh…so something happened…" Charice blinked. "Arthur…what happened?"

"I…I heard voices."

"_**Voices?"**_ Li Xiao sat next to him.

"They were sad…filled with war and gunfire. None of the voices stood out, mumbling together as if it was a documentary…" Arthur stated. "But it was so clear and precise that…I felt like I was back on the battlefield…"

"_W-what would that mean?"_ Matthew asked.

"Either this is too much stress or something huge is happening next." Alfred folded his arms. "This never happened before he fell in…"

"Actually…before I forget, my iPod is playing."

They turned to Charice as she lifted her iPod in the air, still playing the song as loud as before. Kiku quickly walked toward it and pressed the pause button, noting that nothing had changed on the screen. He turned his head in fear toward them, quickly noting the inevitable.

"Another victim's been chosen…" Alfred cringed. "What's the song?"

"Defying Gravity. From the musical." She answered.

"Which would mean that the victim is reaching out to the world after being suppressed for so long." Li Xiao stated. "At least, that's what my inner psychiatrist is saying."

"_Well, who would that be…?"_ Matthew asked.

"Well, we can try aiming toward the South American or African nations." Charice stated. "They're usually crowded with civil war…"

"What a stereotype…" Alfred sighed. "But that's a good lead. Is that it?"

"…that's all we can pull out."

"Hm…" Kiku looked up. "Maybe we can try comparing the victims together to see if they have anything in common."

"All I can pull out is that…they all have personal strife." Charice sighed.

"That narrows it all down." Li Xiao shook his head. "Which means that we still have no pattern of victims."

"Come on…there has to be _**something!"**_ Alfred whined.

"Think about it…we only have two victims….three if you count Carlos, but I want to say he was taken out because he got in the way." Charice stated.

"There has to be a pattern…"

"Oi~! Charice, there you are!"

She turned her head to see Antonio waving her down wearing his khaki attire and a tomato basket on his back. The others stared at him for a few minutes before she decided that she might as well stand up and meet up with Antonio.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Our tomatoes are ripe for harvesting~! Do you want to come along? Lovino's going to be there."

_Lovino…Lovino…_ "Sure, just hold on a second."

She quickly turned her head around and headed back to the five men, tapping the table to keep their attention in her statements. She leaned deeper in to make it into a whisper.

"_Suppression before finally taking revenge…I think the next victim is Lovino."_

"_Lovino? Why?"_

"_He and Feliciano have been suppressed a lot during both World Wars, right? Not to mention that they've been suppressed a lot of them between the whole group here, right?"_ Charice stated. _"I'm going with Antonio and watch over Lovino. You guys scatter around and see if there's anything else."_

"_We can do that."_ Arthur stated. _"Geez, I never knew you had leadership qualities."_

"_You learn a lot with my brother."_ She smiled. "Now then…I have tomatoes to harvest~!"

**/=+=/**

"Oh god…not you again…"

"Yes me again~!"

Charice chirped at Lovino's pissed off look as he turned his head and stared at the plump tomatoes in front of him. She couldn't help but laugh at his mad expression: it made him look all the cuter, really. It's the same as Feliciano's "ve" face, only…well, Lovino's.

"I was able to get you a basket so you can pick your tomatoes!"

"Sweet! Tomato time!"

"Why the hell are we giving her tomatoes?"

"Because she is your sister, my dear Lovi! She was a colony of mine, after all!"

"Great…I have a psycho for a sister."

"Aw, Lovi-chan…"

"_**It's LOVINO!"**_

"Right, right…"

Charice laughed as she turned her head to begin picking tomatoes…and then realizing that she had no idea how to pick a tomato whatsofreakin ever. Pull as she may, the stalks were so tough that she decided to try twisting the tomato and failing as a result.

"Ahahaha! That's not how to harvest it, Charice! You need a knife!"

"Eh? Why?"

Antonio laughed as he lifted up his blade and quickly chopped down a tomato into the container. She sighed in defeat as she turned her head to a smirking Lovino and then watched as he exaggerated his movements to rub in her face the fact that he knew what he was doing.

Quite frankly, she wanted to pull an Elizabeta and rip open his shirt to splash water over his body.

Don't ask. Kiku gave her a doujinshi last night.

After a few minutes, Charice lifted up her iPod and continued to listen to the repeating song while keeping her hand on the phone in her pocket. The music got so interesting that she forgot to grab her cell phone and continued to chop away at the tomatoes. She laughed for a few minutes before noticing her iPod glitching and shutting down. Instantly, her blood froze.

"Charice?" Antonio blinked. "Are you OK?"

She didn't even have to blink before a rusty stench erupted into her nose. She gagged and leaned back, causing the both of them to stare at the girl who was getting extremely sick.

"W-what's wrong with her?" Lovino asked.

"God…is someone bleeding around here?"

"No…why?" Lovino blinked.

"Cause…cause I'm smelling a lot of blood around here…"

Antonio froze as he stood up, looking around the tomato gardens and hence scaring the crap out of the Italian. He took a deep breath and leaned back down to Charice's level.

"How close is it?"

"The blood? Um…" She rubbed her nose. "It's recent…and very close…"

He nodded in fear before quickly dashing down deep into the forest. Lovino stood up in confusion as Charice lifted herself in the air and rubbed her nose.

"What's his problem?"

"He's just worried about the blood issue…apparently I have the nose of a bloodhound…literally."

"Y-you smell blood then…? T-that means…"

She panicked as the thought of the next victim was running through her mind. She took a deep breath, held it, and dashed toward Antonio's location, hearing Lovino following soon after. The smell of blood got stronger and stronger until she just wanted to puke. But then again, she had to tell her friends immediately. She grabbed her phone.

_Come to the woods immediately. I think I hear a river…the next victim's here. –Charice_

As the path continued to spin around, she saw black cloth ripped around and pinned to trees. The messages were scrawled all over the bark, unnerving her.

_**DEATH IS UNAVOIDABLE.**_

_**FACE THE TRUTH.**_

_**YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE.**_

_**YOU NO LONGER EXIST.**_

_**JUST DIE ALREADY!**_

_My god…this murderer is crazy._

Before she knew it, she found the clearing next to the river, the blood destroying her nose. There was a whole pool of it in front of her, blocked by Antonio's traumatized body. She turned her head and saw a message scrawled in blood: _**"DEATH FINALLY TAKES WHAT HE SEEKS."**_ She turned her head back around and screamed. The body was covered with blood, a huge cut shown from the tip of his head to the bottom of his legs. And by the look of the skin of his eyes, he had the courtesy of closing the eyes of the body. But that's not what made her scream.

It was Gilbert Beillschmidt.

_My god…my god…oh my god…_

A hand grabbed her shoulder, causing her to scream yet again and turn her head around…relieved to see that it was only Alfred and the others.

"I heard screaming. What happened?"

"…it's Gilbert…he got him…"

Lovino and Antonio were traumatized off their rocker as the others came dashing into the scene. Matthew seemed the most traumatized out of the group _(then again, that was a LOT of blood)_, but then quickly calmed his nerves down enough to walk ahead and touch his leg. They watched as Matthew walked to the side and quickly opened up a huge portal.

"_It's…it's the same murderer…"_

"God, why is he getting more creative?" Charice grabbed her hair. "The blood is _**raping my nostrils!"**_

"…what's going on…?"

"_Eh?"_ He saw Antonio stand up. _"A-Antonio?"_

"He's asking what the fuck is going on, dammit!" Lovino spat. "Why is Gilbert dead on the ground here? Do you know what the hell's going around here?"

"There's a murderer going around." Li Xiao stated bluntly. "And he's using supernatural effects to kill them. Fortunately, we can use the same supernatural effects to save him."

"…we can save him?"

"That's…what we're hoping for." Alfred stated.

Antonio took no chance at all. He stood up and instantly ran through the portal without any chance of looking back. Lovino spat at him before running in after him, much to Charice's screaming. After a few minutes, she clung her head.

"My god…_**WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH **__**MEN**__**?"**_ She screamed. "Can they ever just WAIT?"

"Well, we sure as hell can't." Arthur closed his book. "We have to get in there…fast."

"Right, right…hopefully, the blood isn't destroying me there…"

**/=+=/**

**That's right. The next victim is none other than Gilbert Beillschmidt. And here's the fun part: WE JUST HIT THE WORLD WAR II SUB-PLOT! You're going to see why Alfred and Arthur are important in this~!**

**Oh, and by the way, since the last vote had a close tie between Alfred and Lovino, I decided to include Lovino and Antonio as well. Sucks, right? Well…for me, of course.**

**Read and review~!**


	26. Game World ON!

**So victim #3 is taken, ladies and gents. Ready to see his world? Bet you are! By the way, video game character mentions galore.**

**/= "Ghost Blood" by Pandora Hearts =/**

The minute her feet touched the floor, she heard the sound of heels touching marble. She looked up and saw that she had landed in a marble castle, staring at a portrait that somewhat scared her just a little bit. Her eyes went down to her uniform and realized it was not much different from her usual attire: her red jacket was now shortened to just below her _(lack of)_ breasts, and had arm and shoulder pads on the belts all over her arms. Her skirt was now tan and extremely short, but fortunately the black tights stayed and the combat boots turned white.

_Wow…I look like a video game character._

She turned her head around to see that the others had fallen in as well. Alfred seemed similar to Tidus in Final Fantasy, Arthur looked like Faize from Star Ocean, Kiku had the appearance of an Organization XIII member, little Matthew donned the Link look, and Li Xiao looked like Soren from Fire Emblem. Why in the world did they look so hot?

"Um…why the hell do we look like this?" Charice asked them.

"I dunno…" Alfred blinked. "But _**it's awesome!"**_

"God, that's what we're thinking about?" Li Xiao rolled his eyes. "It just happens."

"It doesn't 'just happen', Li Xiao. There's a meaning behind this." Arthur stated. "With these costumes, we are immersed in this world. And when we are immersed, we are able to see through the fog that covers the land."

"…um…" Charice turned her head. "What fog? All I see is a marble palace and the fact that we're in cosplay outfits."

"Yes, indeed…at least we can pull them off." Kiku stated _(obviously rubbing it in Alfred's face)_.

"Oh, actually…when we were in Arthur's world, I keep thinking how is it that you guys could run around a ship so perfectly when I could barely see past my hands." Alfred stated. "After seeing Jackson so clearly and getting that weird pirate outfit, it was like someone just aired out the entire place."

"_So there is a fog in this world…"_ Matthew mumbled, holding Kumajiro tightly. _"No wonder this place is always cold…"_

"Which brings up question #2: why can we see through the fog with these costumes?" Charice pointed out. "It's obvious that when we jumped in, people who've been in here before can see through it, but ordinary people can't."

"It's a basic psychology statement: if you take the fog away from your eyes, you see the world in a different light." Arthur stated, sounding like an old man in a very interesting way. "Those who have faced their inner demons and taken off the masks to hide them can then see the masks that hide the others."

"…what?"

"It basically means that if you don't have anything troubling you, you can focus on the problems of other people."

"Oh…_**why couldn't you say that before?"**_

"Cause you're too oblivious to figure that out, bloody git!"

_And thus begins the lover's spat._ Charice rubbed her chin. _Battle number...something something…_

"_C-can I bring up another question?"_ Matthew blinked. _"If only we can see through the fog, what about Antonio and Lovino? Would that mean that they get lost?"_

"Um…" Alfred turned around. "Speaking of which…where are they?"

…

"_**FUCKING SHIT MACE!"**_ Charice screamed. "Don't tell me they ran off ahead!"

"Well…Antonio is a close friend of Gilbert…" Kiku stated. "And Lovino always has to make sure that Antonio doesn't do something stupid-"

_**["Did someone call for the awesome me?"]**_

They turned and froze at the random vendetta-like person that sat on top of the marble staircase. It was most definitely Gilbert's shadow, for he donned an anti-hero look with a strange-looking hat and a mask over his face. Then again, the fact that he was a _**freakin' albino**_ and that his eyes were the creepiest of reds made it easy to identify him.

"Gilbert…" Charice blinked.

_**["Hm…you're a strange girl…though you're not the one I seek."]**_ He stood up. _**["One day, I will be avenged. For I…am an avenger!"]**_

_Oh god, he's going into Sasuke mode. Someone shoot him now before he brings up six seasons worth of angst and useless brain filler._

"An avenger?" Li Xiao blinked. "Avenging…what?"

_**["What I do is on my own terms…for I am an avenger and hence I do whatever I want!"]**_ He chirped. _**["But no matter…for what I seek is here and when I find it, I will have my vengeance."]**_

And just like that, he vanished in a puff of smoke…like a typical avenger. Charice turned to the confuzzled looks on everyone's faces before concluding that yes, they don't have a freakin' clue what the heck Gilbert was talking about. Maybe he was talking about Ivan and that whole World War II fiasco that Charice had to read in a text book? Hm…

"So…yeah, we should start walking." She blinked.

"Where?" Li Xiao turned his head. "Look around. There're no doors or windows. The fake windows up there just show the wall paint."

"..._**oh WHAT THE HELL?"**_ She grumbled. "Man, what a way to start this freakin' rescue mission! Can someone just blow up a wall or something, please?"

"That won't be necessary."

She turned toward Arthur, who had closed his eyes and placed a hand on his chest. Suddenly a figure appeared behind him, dressed in black and having mechanical wings on its arms. It spread itself wide as a strange aura erupted before them, creating a doorway before them. The figure instantly vanished, scaring Charice out of her rocker.

"There's the door." Arthur grinned. "Hopefully, it'll lead us to the other two."

"Personally, I would wait until a sign came out, but seeing as how there're two people out there…" Li Xiao sighed. "We should go."

**/=+=/**

"OK, guys~! Where do we go from-"

Charice turned her head around and realized that she was alone. The palace was gone from behind her, instead creating nothing more than a misty forest in the middle of the night. Not only that, but there was no one around. That obviously annoyed the hell out of her, but seeing as how there was nothing behind her she was forced to keep going.

_Maybe they're up ahead…_

She kept walking closer, feeling her nerves tingling as she could've sworn that there was another presence in the area. After a few minutes, she was able to find a clearing that seemed to remind her of Matthew's world and a familiar figure standing in the middle like a statue.

"Hey! Lovi-chan! Lovi-chan, are you OK?"

He didn't say anything, continuing to stare into the night sky. She blinked, wondering if there was something that he was trying to figure out. Then again, what would he be listening to?

**-"There are so many things that I have done to be who I am today."-**

"A-Antonio…?"

**-"I've done everything for him…built up my kingdom, took over so many lands and hurt so many people…just to protect him…"-**

She turned her head to Lovino, who still did not move a muscle.

**-"How much more can I sacrifice to keep him safe? How much more of myself can I let go…?"-**

She walked closer to Lovino, as she heard him mumble something in Italian, hence she had no idea what he was saying. Charice didn't want to get any closer, but she clearly knew that he was obviously shocked at what was going on. _Is this still Gilbert's world? Or did I fall into Antonio's? Or did they fuse?_ God, if only Arthur was here.

"…and here I thought he was an idiot." Lovino finally spat out loud. "All of that territory conquering was for me?"

_**["Oh, what **__**bullshit**__**. He's obviously talking about Feliciano!"]**_

The both of them froze as another figure appeared from the mists. She didn't have to see his face to know what it was: Lovino's shadow, holding a smug grin on his face and a shine in his now golden eyes. Nonetheless, the actual Lovino was terrified at the image.

_**["Antonio's addicted to that man. All he's been doing this entire time was coo over that little piss shit. Shower him with love, hold him like a baby, hell he wanted to trade me for that bastard!"]**_ The shadow continued. _**["Hell, it's not just him! Every single person that I've ever MET babies that sissy. I could jump off a cliff or shoot all the brains out of my head and no one would give a crap!"]**_

"…no…"

_**["Oh wait a minute, there's no longer a North and South Italy anymore, isn't there? Only one of us is supposed to exist, right? And if there was a choice, they'd choose him in a heartbeat! No one loves me…no one even gave a shit!"]**_

"Dammit, shut the hell up…"

_**["That murderer sure has a horrible choice of victims. Why did he choose an idiot like Gilbert? Despite the fact that he's SUCH an asshole and related to one as well, at least people cared for him in their own stupid way. Sometimes, I wish he chose me instead…he'd be doing the world a **__**favor**__**."]**_

"I don't think like that…"

_**["I'm totally useless. I'm nothing like my idiot brother. I can't cook, I can't sing, I can't draw, all I do is curse out the entire world. Antonio used me as a silver medal, France uses me as a freakin' object while caring for Feliciano, hell my own grandfather left me to rot while caring for that unethical **__**jackass**__** of a brother!"]**_

"You…bastard…"

_**["Let's face it…I'm better off dead."]**_

Charice was in shock the entire time. Lovino was three years older than Feliciano, and he felt like this the entire time? What was worse was that she had to categorize herself in what the shadow was saying: Feliciano was so much cuter than Lovino in his own little way and had loved to shower him with everything that she had. _If only everyone else was here…_

"Shut the hell up, you bastard! Why the hell are you saying that you're me?" He spat. **"YOU'RE NOT ME!"**

The Shadow started laughing out loud as the clouds started to surround him and shoot him up in the air, knocking Lovino out cold. Charice ran in front of his body to see that Lovino's shadow had turned into a bleeding monster hidden inside a cage. She could see the tears coming from its eyes. And she had to fight this alone?

…

"_**FUCKING SHIT MACE!"**_

**/=+=/**

**Hermes**** is the messenger of the Greek gods, the offspring of Zeus and maia. He's recognized as the patron of travelers, commerce, athletics, literature and poets…and even of healing, invention and thieves. He can enter the Underworld and leave without any problems. [Arthur Kirkland - Magician]**

**Oh hey, I just looked up and realized something: the voice of Lovino and Feliciano **_**(Daisuke Namikawa)**_** is also the voice of the protagonist in Persona 4 :D**


	27. Lovino's Shadow

**So Lovino has a Shadow battle…and Charice has to deal with him alone! GOD DAMMIT!**

**/= "Brother VS Macaroni (Khoi King ver.) Theme" by RomaHeta =/**

_Why me…? Why do I have to do this alone?_

The Shadow was towering her now, scaring the crap out of her body. Hell, who wouldn't be scared of the fact that she had to battle a whole skyscraper on legs with nothing more than a couple of Persona and a poleaxe that barely surpasses her height? She'd be.

_**["I AM A SHADOW…THE TRUE SELF."]**_

_So Lovino is actually suicidal?_

_**["WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR? ARE YOU HERE TO GRANT ME MY WISH? I'M SORRY, BUT ONLY ONE PERSON CAN DO SO. UNTIL HE IS READY, I MUST LIVE. WHICH MEANS YOU MUST DIE!"]**_

The ground quickly shook underneath her, causing Charice to jump in the air and saw water geysers shoot up after her and knocking herself off balance. Nonetheless, landing on your back is a very painful experience. She quickly darted up into a sitting position as she saw the monster roar forward and charge toward Lovino's unconscious body.

_Oh crap __**SHADOWS ARE GETTING SMART!**_ She lunged forward toward him. _I can't reach him in time…come on, Charice…THINK!_

"_**Rakukaja!"**_

A large glyph appeared between its punch, keeping the Shadow back. Charice darted her head around to see a familiar Persona hover behind her, an even more familiar figure holding up a crushed Persona card in his hand.

"I guess I made it in time?"

"Yeah, basically!" She sighed. _Leave it to a Brit._ "Lovino's shadow's going after him! I mean, literally!"

"Fine, I'll protect Lovino's body." Arthur stood in front of him. "You handle the Shadow."

"_**ALONE?"**_ She darted her head around again. "Are you INSANE?"

"You're the Wild Card! You can find his weakness!"

_Oh, whoop de do._

She jumped over another sweep of the leg and saw that the Shadow was still crying through its attacks. Before she could think, a huge blast appeared from his fingers, slashing her stomach open. Arthur was about to say something when Charice looked up and saw that the Shadow's tears were actually healing her wounds. Just as she was figuring that out, the Shadow was using them to heal his as well.

_**["LIKE I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE…ONLY ONE PERSON IS ALLOWED TO TAKE MY LIFE! YOU BASTARD CAN'T BE THE ONE TO DO SO!"]**_

"OK, OK, I get it!" She screamed back _why?_ "Well, seeing how it isn't me, how am I beating this dude?"

"It's obviously not me…" Arthur stated.

"Oh wait, I got an idea!" She snapped her fingers. "Ganesha! _**Garuda!"**_

She saw Feliciano spin behind her as the card shot out, taking out the elephant deity and attacking the Shadow. She cheered at the huge gash that appeared on its stomach, but then frowned when it healed itself up with its tears. None of the other Persona seemed to help her as well. And the beatings just keep getting worse and worse.

_OK…just one more Persona…just one more…_ She grinned. "Odin! _**Ziodyne!"**_

The image of Antonio appeared behind her as Odin attacked with his mighty lightning. She saw the thunder tear him down, and noticed that the tears were no longer falling down the Shadow's eyes. It was then that she realized that Antonio's image was still standing behind her, smiling softly at him.

_**["ANTONIO…?"]**_

"I got it!" _But…Antonio? Really?_ _**"Thunder Reign!"**_

Odin took down one more attack, and the Shadow fell to the ground.

**/= "Who am I? (Xion's Theme)" by Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days =/**

"I got him, I got him!"

Arthur walked forward as the Shadow Lovino slowly rose back to his feet, his eyes now filled with tears and shaking as of showing vulnerability, something that she knew that he never wanted to show anyone. She could also see the actual Lovino waking from his coma to see his exhausted state.

_**["WHY WON'T I DIE…? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME DIE…?"]**_

"…Lovino…you know I can't do that to you…" Charice stepped forward. "Why in God's realm would you want to do that, anyway?"

_**["BECAUSE…BECAUSE I'M NOT WORTH ANY OF THIS…"]**_

Charice stared at him in shock before feeling a card in her hands. She looked at her fingers and saw that it was the Moon Arcana upside down. Before she could say anything, it began to glow, the light enveloping all of her senses.

**/= "Measure of a Man" by Clay Aiken =/**

_Her eyes opened, revealing that she was in a sunny meadow. In front of her, there was a man in a Roman outfit and two little boys drawing in sketchbooks. One seemed to be humming to himself, while the other one didn't seem that happy about this at all._

"_Grandpa! Grandpa! Look at my new painting! Do you like it?"_

"_Wow, you really do draw well Feliciano!"_

"_Ve~~~thank you, grandpa!"_

"_Hey, Lovino! How are your drawings?"_

"_Che…I'm doing great, thank you very much…"_

"_Hm…your drawings need some improvement…"_

"_I know that, you bastard! Don't rush me!"_

"_Ve~~~don't be mean to grandpa, fratello."_

"_Thank you, Feliciano. Why can't you be more like him?"_

"_So you're the Italy that I get!"_

"_Why the hell do you sound so mad about this arrangement?"_

_Antonio laughed as he started to pet Lovino before seeing Roderich walk in holding Feliciano in his arms. He chirped and immediately went forward to praise his ever-holiness toward the younger brother, leaving Lovino alone. After a few minutes, he returned back to him._

"_Your brother is so cute~!"_

"_Che."_

"_Why can't you be more like him?"_

_She stood there as the images sank into a warm light, thousands of voices echoing in the glow and all of them saying the same thing. "Why can't you be more like him?" "Why can't you draw?" "I thought all Italians could sing!" The card was throbbing in her hand._

"_**Why do they compare me to him? I'm nothing like him? Why can't they see that?"**_

"_**If only I kick the bucket…"**_

"_**Maybe then they'll see the error of their ways."**_

_There was a small dark room, a table near the window. It was revealed that it was his dorm room, on a rainy day. She saw Lovino's figure walk to the desk and skim a familiar image on it, before grabbing it and aiming it on his forehead. Charice paused: it was a gun. As he began to cry, she noticed something shocking._

_She wasn't looking at Lovino at all._

_She was looking at Rizal._

**/= "Who am I? (Xion's Theme)" by Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days =/**

The light faded, revealing that she was back in the forest with the shadow Lovino. She took a deep breath and turned to the actual Lovino, who seemed extremely lost on what was going on. Arthur wisely stood out of the way, playing as the observer.

"Everyone saw you as Feliciano's brother, not as Lovino."

He cringed.

"Hence everyone thought that you could do everything that he can. But you can't. No one knew that…and hence they pressured you to change to that."

He turned away.

"You had no idea what to do. You're scared of being alone, but in order to do that, you would have to go against everything that you are."

His face wavered.

"In the end, you chose to be yourself instead of conforming to their demands…and hence you found yourself alone in the world. You just wanted at least a little bit of the attention that your brother had."

"…you're just like the rest of them, you know that? You give him all the love in the world…yet you see me as just another man."

"Maybe I did. Maybe I still do. And I can't deny the fact that when this is still over, I'll still shower your brother with all the love I have." She sighed. "But I can give you something just as good."

"Yeah? What is that?"

"Well, I can't promise the fact that I'll show you more love than I do your brother…" She smiled. "But I _**can**_ promise you that I'll show you just as much!"

Lovino stared at the sincere _(yet cheesy)_ smile on her face before nodding to himself. He mumbled to himself in Italian before walking up toward the shadow and standing before it with a strange sense of courage in his stride.

"Yes…I have considered suicide. I've attempted it so many times…and yet I've always found a reason to chicken out at the last minute. I thought it was because I was a coward…a man who feared death when I wanted to fall into its welcome arms. In the end, it was true…I was scared.

"I've just wanted attention, something that could remind me that I'm not just a waste of air and water walking on the planet. Whining about it wasn't going to get me anywhere, so I just let it go and moved it on. It obviously didn't work for me…heh, just look at where I am now.

"So you really are me…the part that will forever seek the comfort of death…the final answer for everyone in the world. I'm no longer going to deny this fact anymore…but I won't seek it for the time being. This time, I'm going to try finding myself once again. And this time, I'll succeed…so stop annoying all of us, bastard."

The Shadow nodded as it flew in the air, turning into a mechanical golden angel and a robe and shining away the fog of the forest before sinking into his body. Charice turned to her hand and saw the card in her hand turn into a silver glow before resinking into her hands. He turned around and proceeded to be glomped by the Filipina.

"_**Gah! What the hell?"**_

"What? I promised you that I'd give you all the love that I give Feli-chan, right?"

"Wait, _**now**__**?"**_

"I'm giving you a preview~!"

"Geez…" This time, he didn't bother to fight it off.

"So we saved Lovino…" Arthur nodded. "Good. Now we can go find the others."

"Wait, others?" Lovino blinked. "What, the other bastards that were with you?"

"Yeah, basically." She stated.

"…fine. Let's find them…and while you're at it, tell me what the hell is going on."

**/=+=/**

**Sandalphon**** is the twin brother of Metatron. He's said to be responsible for choosing the gender of babies or even a guardian angel that delivers the prayers of man to God. [Lovino Vargas - Moon]**

**Lovino's now part of the party~! Read, review, and choose your party members now!**


	28. The City of Madrid?

**So Lovino's been saved. Let's go save the others~! Yay!**

**/= "Ghost Blood" by Pandora Hearts =/**

"So…there's a murderer on the loose?"

"Yeah. They use supernatural means to do so, which means that we can reverse the situation when we have the means." Arthur stated.

"…so _**you're**_ the cause of it?"

"Of course not, bloody git!"

Charice just rolled her eyes as the three of them continued to wander around the misty forest, finally finding the place that seemed to shape up everything: a small city filled with pueblos. It was an ancient looking Madrid…his capital city, covered with fog and trees…how odd.

"OK…I'm confused." She blinked. "What world did we actually fall into?"

"That's what confused me as well. This is obviously Antonio's world, but we came in here for Gilbert…" Arthur turned his head around. "Maybe Gilbert's Shadow is hiding behind Antonio?"

"OK, can you tell what the hell is going on?"

"Oh, sorry Lovi-chan." She clung onto him. "When Gilbert was dead, he created this world. And when Antonio followed him, he created this part of the world as well."

"Wait…Gilbert made all this?"

"No…Antonio did." She blinked and turned her head around. "Though I thought that when we fell in, this would be Gilbert's place…"

"Um…I got your answer."

He looked up and pointed at a sign at the entrance of Madrid, screaming the words **"LEVEL 1: HAVE FUN~!"** in big bold letters. Well, that confirmed the fact that Gilbert's Shadow was using him. Nonetheless, as Arthur was explaining everything to him, Charice wandered into the city and looked around. Despite the fact that she and Antonio were on good terms, she had never been to Madrid before. Hence, she had no idea where the hell she was.

_So Gilbert's Shadow is forcing us to go through all of this before we can get to him?_ She folded her arms. _Great, now we have to literally play up like a video game..._

She turned her head around as she wandered the stone streets, unable to see anything past the mist that was around her. It was then that she realized something: Lovino had his outfit change when his Persona was granted upon him. Now he donned something similar to Richard in Tales of Graces. It sucks that only Kiku knew of that game…

"Charice? Is that you?"

"Eh?" Speak of the devil. "Hey, Kiku! You're here too!"

"Everyone's here, but we separated trying to find Antonio." He answered. "Have you seen him around?"

"No, not really." She grinned. "But we _**did**_ find Lovino. He's over there."

"Oh…that's good to hear." He bowed to the both of them. "I see that you're all right, Lovino. How are you handling all this?"

"I'm barely getting the jest of this freakin' place. So this entire place is made from Antonio? _**Why?"**_

"We don't know that yet…the only thing we know is that when this place is created, we have the ability to revive the dead." Kiku answered. "Other than that, we don't know anything."

"Revive the dead?" Lovino folded his arms. "Who told you that?"

"Li Xiao." He said bluntly. "And that was after they revived me as well."

"Wait wait wait…you were a victim of this guy as well?"

"Me and Arthur both. The same process saved the both of us, and we think that Gilbert will be saved as well."

"…I could care less about Gilbert, but it's that damn bastard Antonio who jumped in without even thinking. I want to drag him out of here before I wring his neck."

"_Oh! It's Lovino, brother!"_

"Eh? **HEY!** You're alive!"

They turned their heads around and saw Alfred running toward the group with a wave of his rather gloved hand, a light image of Matthew running on after him. A light tap echoed from behind her, and she didn't have to turn her head to see that Li Xiao was behind her as well.

"So you were able to get Lovino. That's good." He stated. "Were you able to get Antonio?"

"Not in the least." She answered. "You guys have any luck?"

"No…there's no sign of him here, so we have no idea where to even begin looking." Li Xiao sighed.

"Heck, we even tried looking for tomato plants or something like that! Nothing!" Alfred spat. "This tracking thing is getting hard."

"Well, what's a video game without harder levels?" Kiku smiled. "All you have to do is think like a gamer."

"So…" Charice blinked. "Cheat code?"

"Well, I don't know what 'cheat codes' are, but I think I can give you that."

Arthur nodded as he summoned his Persona, the scanner Persona appearing behind him and quickly rolling around the area. After a few minutes, they saw Arthur's eyebrows twitch and his head looked up, catching their interest. He began to rub his temples as Hermes vanished.

"There was a presence heading deeper into the city…the middle square." He stated as he continued to rub his temples. "It seemed worried…scared of something…"

"Anything specific?" Lovino spat.

"No…just that it's definitely not a Shadow…"

"That's our best lead then." Charice grabbed her poleaxe. "Who's up for some Spaniard hunting?"

**/= "Prisoners of Fate" by Chrono Cross=/**

Nonetheless, after a few long minutes of Shadow slaying, they were finally able to get to the center of the city. The fog was getting thicker and thicker, but Lovino and Charice were still quickly able to catch the familiar mess of hair and the school uniform that loosely hung on his frame.

"_**Antonio!"**_ She screamed. _**"Hey! Are you OK?"**_

He didn't say anything, only slowly turning to them with a confused look on his face. It was then that she learned why: there was another Antonio in the premise. This time, he wore the usual khaki uniform that he always seems to like wearing, the glowing yellow eyes the only indication that it wasn't just a reflection.

_Oh…shit._ She panicked.

"You guys…" He turned back to the Shadow. "W-what is that? A reflection? A mirror is over there?"

"Um…no, not really…" Lovino spat.

_**["Come on…you know damn well how to listen to people. Open your ears for a change."]**_

"Eh?" Antonio was actually smiling this time. _**Smiling!**_ Was he not getting what was going on? "Ahahaha! What makes you think you know how I listen to people?"

_**["Cause how else do I know your darkest secrets? How else do I know about the regret that you feel for the last hundred years of conquest, making people miserable out of their minds? You're the good Catholic, and of course a good Catholic feels nothing but pain, doesn't he?"]**_

THAT got Antonio's attention, and Charice labeled that as a bad thing: anything that can wipe _Spain's_ smile off his face should really be shut up and sealed off to a rather quiet premise of the UNIVERSE.

_**["Like they always say…never judge a book by its cover, and never assume that people aren't listening. The ones with the biggest smiles hold the most scars, you know. Besides, I knew damn well what I was doing when I took over the world by force, tortured thousands of 'savages' just for the sake of gaining power. I suppressed everything that I was and was going to be for the sake of being powerful, but in the end, all I had left was regret."]**_

"…you…"

_**["But as always, I came up with a plan beforehand. Just walk in with a smile on my face, pretend that I can't tell left from right and that I couldn't give a shit if I knew what the hell it was! That way I can be dismissed for my actions as being a total idiot, and perhaps I can live with my guilt. Too bad it backfired on me…for in the end, I forgot the means of why a person should smile…"]**_

"…you're wrong."

_**["Oh please, you know damn well what I mean! You're just running away, pretending that you had no idea what you were doing just to save your hide! How do I know this? Well, because I'm you…and you're me."]**_

"…_no…no you have this all wrong…"_

Charice held her breath as she started spazzing like mad. The others were too busy being shocked at what the Shadow had just revealed to all of them.

"No no no no no no no no no no don't say it don't say it for heaven's sake don't say it it's not going to help you don't say it don't say it don't say it-"

"**YOU ARE NOT ME!"**

"_**GOD DAMMIT **__**ARRRRRRGGGGGHHH!**__**"**_

Nonetheless, the Shadow began to grow in momentum, feeding off of Antonio's pain and guilt. He collapsed to the floor as everyone else ran in front of him, watching as the figure turned into a huge demon with a red cape and a huge devil's axe, laughing at all of them.

"_One of these days, I swear to God, I will stop them from saying that damn statement…CURSE the mini-bosses to hell…"_

**/=+=/**

**Ahahaha…read and review. For after this, we finally get to Gilbert…maybe?**


	29. A Complicated Story

**TOO…MANY…SHADOWS…IN…ONE…DAY…hell, it makes up the filler :D**

**/= "Turbulent VS Boss Theme ~ Passion ~ Single Sweep" by RomaHeta =/**

"_This is Antonio's Shadow…"_ Matthew let down Kumajiro. _"I didn't even think that he even had a problem…"_

"The ones with the biggest smiles hold the most scars." Li Xiao repeated. "Antonio does nothing but smile…"

_**["I am a Shadow...the true self…"]**_ The Shadow flexed his muscles. _**["Ah…it feels great to finally allow myself to release all my anger out on something…I hope you're ready!"]**_

"…crap, he's talking about us, isn't he?"

"Yeah…" Alfred lifted up his guns. "Sorry."

"_**DAAAMMMMIIIIITTT!"**_

Charice jumped into the sky as the demon slashed a huge hole in the ground, scaring the crap out of the poor American. Lovino stared at the Shadow in shock as he raged around attacking basically everyone in the premise _(which took about a good hour or two…I guess…of rage-abusing items and just raging in general)_.

_Antonio…I never knew…_

"OK, that's it! Rage-cheating, that's the only way to go!" Charice waved her hands around. "Phoenix! Flame him, now!"

"Yatagarasu, come!"

_How long have you suffered about something as stupid yet important as this…?_

"That's it! Gunfire Rampage!"

"His shell is hard to break…we need another plan!"

_That's it. I'm pounding your head in…cause god dammit you deserve it._ "Sandalphon! Fly!"

The angel swarmed over Lovino's head, glowing through the mists of Madrid. With a flip of its wrists, a huge circle appeared underneath the Shadow, keeping it in place. Charice saw as Lovino jumped into the air, Sandalphon fusing with it. For a minute, it looked like he had armor.

"_**Agneyastra!"**_

The blade struck him hard, causing the Shadow to reel over and for the light to seep into its wounds. The monster sank down into the depths of the darkness, leaving behind the body of Antonio's body.

**/= "Who Am I?" by Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days =/**

"Wow…that was oddly easy."

"That's only because Lovino had the Shadow's weakness."

"Don't rub it in, Li Xiao."

Lovino walked up towards the Shadow and stared at the bruises that he had given it. Charice walked forward to join him, of course startling the poor Italian but nonetheless allowing him to collect his thoughts of the situation.

"I never thought that Antonio would be like this, you know?"

"Well…he is a Catholic. I'm not surprised that he had some form of guilt." She turned back to him. "But…I never thought it'd be this much."

He was about to say something when Charice felt something in her hand. It was a card…more importantly, the Emperor Arcana. Oddly enough, it was upside down in her fingertips. It erupted in a soft glow, engulfing the world around them.

**/= "When We Die" by Bowling for Soup =/**

_The whole world was getting stronger around him._

_At his feet, Antonio stared at the two Italian nations that were playing before him. They looked so cute, so innocent, so…vulnerable to the taking. Nonetheless, there're going to be wars around them…just for their territory. He had been hearing rumors that Roderich and Francis were starting to fight over them…_

_He'll have to get stronger…somehow…_

"Geez, can this bastard get any sappier?"

"EH? Lovino! You're here too?"

"Why the hell not? You dragged me into this!"

"But…this is Antonio's past…I thought I was going to be the only one watching this!"

"Fine, whatever. Let it run."

_He had to have lost the war. He wasn't strong enough. His powers were able to keep Lovino in his grasp, but just barely. Roderich had taken Feliciano…the boy that he secretly wanted for his own. Then again, he wanted the both of them in his house._

"Che…I'm not surprised."

_But he is a kingdom. He is the Kingdom of Spain, for crying out loud! He must be stronger in order to make sure Lovino stays in his grasp, and even then he must gain power to take Feliciano into his house. They must stay together…for this was for Lovino's sake._

"_Stop! Leave us alone!"_

"_Please! Don't hurt us!"_

_Their cries were echoing in his ears, but he forced them out of his mind. These were only mere colonies, nations that had no power compared to him. Their screams were nothing like flies in his ears. They meant nothing. They were nothing. It was just nations of young men and women. They had nothing against his armada and army. Nothing…_

_Except one small nation._

_He remembered that explorer Magellan, going out to the world to explore everything that the planet can give him. The news that the place that killed him was a nation out of all things…a weak nation in the Asian continent, out of all places! He remember darting to his feet to the survivor._

"_What place is this?"_

"_I-I don't know! It's just that their leader, Lapu Lapu…he killed our leader, sire!"_

"…_tell me the coordinates of this place. I must have this land."_

_And take he did._

_There was no way that this was possible. The nation that had fought off a small Spanish army was a little girl barely past the age of six? What kind of lady was this? And when he finally touched the shores to take the land for himself, to see this girl standing at the edge of the beach, WAITING for them…_

"_And you are…?" He remember asking, his voice tough._

"_The very thing that you're seeking." She stated quite blandly. "I should know, for Bathala told me."_

"_Bathala?" He looked confused._

"_The ever-knowing God above us. Bathala told me that you would come."_

"…_you do know that you worship a false god. For there is only one true god, and that comes from where I walk from."_

"_Only one true god?" She seemed interested, a face that reminded him of Feliciano._

"_Yes. His teachings and his words have been given to me to give to the lands I bless." He grinned, obviously getting her attention. "Would you like me to tell you His words?"_

_She nodded with interest, and after a few years he could still hardly believe it. He had won over a nation into his side not by swords, but by Bibles. Now he was getting powerful if he had a hand in the ever-powerful Asian lands._

_She had every right to be scared of him. He owned her: every inch, every tree, every pore in her body was his. She never looked at him in the eye, she never addressed him off of anything passed sir or sire, and even then she had grown into quite a young lady if he would say so himself. If it hadn't been for Lovino, he would definitely have some room back at home for her. But again, nothing can surpass dear Lovi~_

"Che…what a bastard."

_Still, he had to be a nation. He must carry out his duties as one. He is, of course, the ruler, she his servant. She is only a piece of his power, a power that will help him protect Lovino and perhaps take his revenge over the world. So why does it that whenever he sees her, he sees Feliciano?_

_And what the hell is up with that other kid, anyway?_

_It was a young boy that she had failed so many times to hide. He didn't even have a name, but he clearly hated him with a passion. Perhaps the girl is rebelling and she doesn't even know it? How is it that a nation is forming from an already existing nation? Perhaps he is a parasite, waiting to kill her?_

"Who the hell is he talking about?"

"…he's talking about my brother."

"_So…you're going to fight a war with me?"_

"_I've been fighting you for years, Antonio. You just haven't realized it."_

"Rizal…"

"_So now what? You're a nation now. You do realized that you just killed your sister, right? Two nations can't exist on the same lands."_

_What a lie. If he knew anything, it was more than possible. Take Feliciano and Lovino for instance._

"_Yes, they can…as a nation, I will make it my upmost duty to protect her from everyone who hurts her…especially you. Here I thought you were a man…you're just a manipulative bitch, aren't you? Don't you care about anything in your life?"_

"_What do you take me for, a man? I am a nation."_

"_So am I. At least I have someone to care for. You're just wasting your time running around the world forcing someone to care for your every needs just so you can take more power. Once their job is done, they're discarded away like you didn't even know they exist."_

"…"

"_Oh, now I hit a nerve? I thought all good Catholics had a heart. You don't have the means to care for anything and yet you say to carry His words!" The boy, barely thirteen, spat in his face. His eyes were blood red. "They're all just small pieces of one big puzzle that you just can't help but shape up to your own liking…"_

_What is he…?_

"_You never cared. I've seen smiles on people before…they were genuine, they were real. You've never truly smiled like that, and you never will." He pointed a sword to his face. "You never cared for anyone…not even yourself."_

**/= [END FLASHBACK] =/**

The world sank back into the Shadow Madrid, as both Antonios rose from the ground. Charice turned her head around to see a worried Matthew head toward her, Kumajiro coming in from the back.

"_Are you OK? You just disappeared, and-"_

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She looked at the card in her hand. "I just…saw something…interesting."

She turned her head back to Lovino, who was now walking toward the real Antonio. He always had that confused look on his face like he didn't know shit, but the confusion on his face clearly translated that he didn't know anything about himself anymore. Who would, after these chain of events?

"I saw everything…why didn't you tell me anything, bastard?"

He sat in silence.

"So what, you never cared about me whenever you showered me with pedo love and taught me just how freakin' awesome tomatoes were? You never cared for me whenever you stalk me in the hallways to shower me with more of whatever the hell it is you do?" Lovino sighed. "If that isn't caring, then I hate to see what the hell you do when you actually _**do."**_

Antonio seemed extremely conflicted, but nonetheless his words were touching him. Charice knew that the only way to solve his problems was to talk to him. She knelt down to him.

"You did treat me like dirt, and yes you did make my brother mad…a lot of things you did back then did make you look like a heartless man, but…" She tapped her lips, trying to find words. "You're regretting them now, aren't you? He who has no soul or goodness has no guilt, remember? You taught me that…in some weird way that you did."

He blinked.

"I don't know anything about what Rizal thinks right now, but…I forgive you."

He looked like he was on the verge of crying, but decided not to. Slowly he stood up and walked up to the Shadow that was now wobbling up to its feet, a familiar smile on his face.

"You're right, you know. Back then, I've done so much and achieved everything that I could just to be on par with my fellow nations that I…I forgot how to stay true to what I was deep inside: a man with a desire to protect what my soul has attached itself to: my friends, my dear Lovi…"

He turned to Charice.

"My daughter."

She stared in shock.

"A true Catholic, just like how I raised them. They were children when I found them, and yet I've raised them in two completely different ways. How, then, did they end up the same way…? Maybe I have done something right, even if not to me." Antonio nodded. "If you are me…which I know now that you are…then you know exactly what I mean. After running for so long, I am now ready to repent for my sins and take my punishment…and I need you to help me."

The Shadow nodded and hovered in the air, changing into a man with white armor and a long sword as it sank into his body. At the same time, Charice noticed that the card in her hand had turned silver as it sank finally in her arm. Antonio turned around with a small smile on his face.

"Is Gilbert suffering the same way as I did?"

"Yes." Charice answered. "Depending on the problem, it might be even worse."

"…if there is anything I can do to save him…tell me."

"…you're doing it right now, being here." She answered. "Can you walk?"

"I can do so much more than that."

"Good. Let's go."

**/=+=/**

**Okuninushi**** is a Kunitsugami and former ruler of Izumo until Ninigi took over. While that might suck for him, he was made ruler of the unseen realm. He's said to be the God of Nation-Building, business, and medicine. Seems good for Antonio, doesn't it? [Antonio Hernandez Corriedo - Emperor]**

**Wow…that took a long time to type up. I mean, I had a hard time trying to figure out the Spanish relationship with the Philippines in general! DAMN YOU, Wikipedia for potentially lying to me AGAIN!**


	30. The Potsdam Agreement

**So we got two mini-bosses out of the way! Now what do we do? Well, find Gilbert of course! That, and also play through the "World War II" subplot! Details are sure to follow!**

**/= "Ghost Blood" by Pandora Hearts =/**

"Wow…that's a complicated story."

"Yeah, basically. So the murderer is killing people with means that apparently allow us to revive them." Charice twirled her finger. "Though in your case as well as Lovi-chan's, you two fit more into Alfred and Matthew's situation."

"Um…how, exactly?"

"Alfred stalked us inside when Arthur was killed. And Matthew was never a true victim." Li Xiao stated. "In fact, how did you get into that other world…?"

"_Um…I can't remember…all I knew is that I was depressed about something one day and I remember drawing circles on the floor…"_ He blinked. _"I…might've accidentally let myself fallen in…"_

"Well, that's kinda funny!"

"_D-don't rub it in, brother…"_

"It does save us half the trouble. Beforehand, whenever someone was in trouble like this, we had to find a portal ourselves to go into." Li Xiao stated.

"…who's we?" Antonio asked, tilting his head.

"Me and Carlos…the first victim. The portals seem to favor anything like mirrors and TV screens, anything that shows a reflection." He explained. "Ever since Matthew joined us, we don't have to waste our time finding an entrance point and let the victim waste away."

"Eh? Entrances were a problem before?" Alfred blinked. "Since when?"

"Since this all started. You do realize that people who die from this murderer's methods are barely clinging onto life support." The Chinese man turned toward them. "How a nation's body works, according to Wang, is that when this man kills, he blocks the pride that fuels the country and can keep him alive when he fights in wars. That's why we are considered immortal: as long as the people wish for a better tomorrow on their lands, we live forever. No matter how many times we are shot, stabbed, burned, killed, over and over again we will come back stronger…even if it takes years.

"However, when this is blocked, our bodies cannot take on that immortality, making us extremely human. The human body survives on oxygen, water and food alone, and upon death that body loses that oxygen supply, causing the organs to die off until they are destroyed beyond repair. If this rare case happens to a nation, then they simply reincarnate into another body: perhaps similar to the previous vessel, but acting like a baby…with no memories of their own. This process is preventing all of this from occurring full circle. When that doesn't happen, our country suffers until they collapse from an economic ruin that comes fast and _**hard."**_

"…that's a lot to take in." Alfred shivered.

"You don't know this? What about that Depression you had for ten years? I heard that you were barely surviving on whatever your people could give you." Li Xiao stated. "You dragged all of us with it. If it hadn't been for that president…FDR, his name was?...you'd be dead."

The American stood there in a bit of shock, keeping the entire place in silence. To distract herself, Charice turned her head and realized that his Persona had changed Antonio's outfit: it's now similar to Len from the Synchronicity Vocaloid series….which, by the way, made him just a little bit cuter.

"Well then, what about Gilbert?" Lovino spat. "Obviously, he's not a nation anymore, so why bother saving his ass?"

"That's the funny part. If Gilbert wasn't a nation anymore, this world wouldn't have been created." Li Xiao stepped forward. "He would've died a human death, something that even we can't reverse."

"So…he's a living, breathing nation?" Arthur tilted his head. "Of _**what land?**_ Antarctica?"

"Seeing as how Gilbert has such stamina to him, I wouldn't be surprised." Kiku stated, rubbing his chin.

"_Um…do you think that's part of Gilbert's Shadow? He's trying to avenge his former land?"_

"Maybe." Charice shrugged. "Let's just go find the damn Shadow's lair to begin with! Level 2, here we come!"

At those words, the land of misty Madrid vanished, leaving them in the middle of what seemed to be the marble palace that they started out from. Only instead, there were open wooden doors showing off to what looked like the depths of the palace. Nonetheless, it did look a little nice…well, for a home suited for Shadows.

"Who's walking first?" She blinked.

"_I'll do it."_ Matthew walked forward. _"My hunting skills have been working for a while, so I should be able to spot any traps if I see any."_

"THAT'S my bro!" Alfred chirped.

Charice could only shrug as they descended deeper into the hallways, watching the corners for anything that might vaguely resemble Shadows or monsters or anything Gilbert-ish. Cause…you know, this is Gilbert's world. It was then that she realized something a little…_**strange**_.

"Hey, um…look at the portraits…"

"Eh? _**WHAT THE **__**HELL?**__**"**_ Lovino jumped. "T-there're no pictures there!"

"…ok…t-then it's not just me."

"That's just plain creepy, man." Alfred turned his head. "Why are they empty?"

"_Knowing him, they would've been filled with photos of awesomeness or something."_ Arthur spat under his breath.

"Charice. Look at this."

Charice tilted her head and saw Kiku staring at the frame of one of the portraits. She walked up toward it and saw something strange: an indent that looked like it could fit an index card. Just above it was the number 11 in roman lettering. She blinked before turning her head to Kiku.

"Are you thinking what I _**seriously**_ think you're thinking?"

"Only if you're willing to test it out."

That grin on Kiku's face means that he definitely wants to see this. She lifted up her hand and let the shining card of the Strength Arcana erupt forward. Charice stared at Kiku _(hoping to the world that it isn't a trap)_ before pushing the card into the slot, feeling it click into place. Instantly a picture began to shine in the frame, showing what looked like Gilbert in king's clothing.

"…yep." Arthur sighed. "Awesome."

"This looks like a blast from the past." Kiku looked up. "Gilbert looks happy."

"This must be from his days as a kingdom." Li Xiao answered, staring at the images. "So strong, so filled with honor…"

"_M-maybe the other frames have pictures?"_

"Oh yeah, that's true! _**LET'S GO LOOK FOR 'EM!"**_ Charice chirped.

"Uh…who said that?"

"_Ca-na-da!"_

"…Milwaukie?"

Canada gave up as Charice continued to scout through the other frames, scanning each image. All of them seemed to be that of him as a kingdom: with old kings, pwning other nations in war, the usual stuff that nations usually brag about during their meetings and whatnot _(she's heard them)_. But then…one portrait in particular…

"Hey, this one's different!" Antonio looked up. "It's not the number twelve! Lovino, can you read this?"

"It's roman numerals, dammit! Anyone can read them!" Lovino stormed up to the portrait. "It's the number thirteen, idiot! You know, 'unlucky 13'? Ever heard of it?"

As they went through with that 'argument' _(at this point in time, she had no idea what the difference between an argument and a lover's spat are anymore)_, she stared at the portrait in front of her. From her sides, she could see Arthur and Matthew walking up slowly and touching the sides.

"There's a presence here…but I don't know who it is…" Arthur said.

"_Do you know what can open it?"_

"Yeah, and…I guess I can understand why it's this." She lifted up her hand. "The Death Arcana. The card that holds no Persona…the one that always comes to me upside down…set to people who have done all they can…the card that symbolizes an end to something."

"So then…" Arthur tilted his head. "This is Gilbert's Social Link?"

_That's odd part. It's not._ She thought. _This is Ludwig's._

She slowly slipped it into the slot, feeling the portrait erupt before her. This time, the picture was something a little more strange: it was a map of the geographical Germany, separated into strange zones. The Eastern and Western halves were separated by a huge white line. A line that made Arthur cringe at the image.

"Hey, it's the Potsdam Agreement! The one that completely stopped the Nazi Party in its tracks!" Alfred chirped. "Yeah~! That was a good day!"

"Don't be so goddamn cheery about it, bastard!" Lovino spat.

"Eh?" He turned to Lovino. "You look mad, bro!"

"That's because I am!"

"Why, though?" Li Xiao asked. "If what I've been hearing from around the campus is true, you _**loathe**_ Doitsu with everything Italian inside you."

"Yeah, why are you so worried?" Charice blinked.

The three of them turned their heads and saw that everyone in the room was extremely mad or depressed. The top numbers were Lovino and Kiku, looking down and refusing eye contact with any of them. That's when Charice saw something familiar: Kiku's eyes were deadly, the same time he took them over during World War II. It made her shiver.

It was then that the portrait dissolved the wall, revealing an indent that looked like it was leading into a basement. The other nations scoffed about something as they headed deeper into the stairs, leaving the three who were extremely confused standing back in the room with head scratches.

"OK, what was that treaty thing you were talking about again?"

"It's the Potsdam Agreement, of course!" Alfred boasted, obviously proud. "You see, it's a European treaty that gave a lot of nations that were taken over by the Nazi Party back their power as well as making sure that the German army won't be taking over them again!"

"…and the map?" Li Xiao asked.

"Aw, come on dude! I thought you knew this!"

"Alfred, Charice and I are Asian nations. We wouldn't have any direct correlation to this event, and we've never heard of this before." He stated. "You're going to have to fill the blanks here."

"Well, Kiku surely knew about this." Charice stated. "Then again, he was a member of the Axis Powers."

"Well, look at this! You see, the main focus of the Potsdam Agreement is that it separated Germany into four sectors, governed by America, England, France and the Soviet Union." Alfred looked back to the portrait that moved up out of the way. "The eastern part of Germany was given to the Soviets, while the western half was then split again to those three others."

"So Germany was split up into four pieces…" Charice blinked. "Wait a minute, something's not right!"

"Eh?"

"Look at the map!" She pointed at it. "That part, over there! That's not part of Germany, that much I know! It's part of Prussia!"

"So Gilbert was given to the Soviets as par the agreement…no wonder he might be mad." Li Xiao stated. "Guess we know why everyone hates you so much. You basically tortured the poor man to pay your debt by separating him from his brother."

"Hey, don't put all the blame on me! England was the one who agreed to giving him to Ivan first! I just jumped the gun afterwards!" Alfred answered. "Besides, why would this make him all angry at me?"

"Unless…" Li Xiao rubbed his chin. "Something happened behind the sheets that you weren't filled in…"

"Like what?" Alfred tilted his head. "Take away his beer and he went on a rage? Come on, how bad can it be? Come on, they're probably waiting for us! They need the hero to save them, of course!"

"Oh yeah, the stairs." Li Xiao sighed. "We might as well."

The three of them descended down the staircase as Charice remembered something from long ago. Back when they were talking to Kiku said something that unnerved her a little bit.

_The war that almost killed Germany._

**/=+=/**

**And you meet the Shadow again next chapter! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh yeah, can everyone state what pairing they want again? I've lost track.**


	31. How The Avenger Gets Vengence

**So here's the Shadow chappie~!**

**/= "Ice and Snow" by DN Angel =/**

The caverns were so dark that even the torches weren't helping her at all. In fact, she had to hold onto the sides just to keep her balance. It was sad, really. After a few minutes, they saw a figure up ahead. She walked up ahead of the others and saw that it was Antonio. He smiled and started to pet her.

"I was worried that you gotten lost!" He laughed.

"On a one-way staircase? Hey, I might've been taken over by you, but that doesn't mean I've become you!" She laughed back. "I was just wondering if you were mad at me for something."

"No, of course I'm not!"

"Well, you kinda looked mad before…"

"Ah, yes. You weren't there, so you wouldn't know."

"…know…_**what?"**_

"How I made a vow never to let Feliciano cry again."

Charice cocked an eyebrow as Antonio glared back at Alfred for a half second before heading further down into the staircase. She turned back to him with a look that said _"nope, still have no clue on anything"_ before heading on after him. As the three finally approached the end of the staircase, they saw what looked like the inside of a large throne room _(underground?)_ and the Shadow kneeling before a torn green coat, almost as if he was going to be knighted by that thing.

_**["They are close, mein bruder…they are close."]**_ She heard him mutter. _**["Soon, you will be avenged."]**_

_Avenged?_ She blinked. _Who, Ludwig? But he's alive!_

"Gilbert!" Antonio cried.

_**["Eh? Ah, Antonio…"]**_ Gilbert stood up. _**["My friend…thank god you're here. My revenge is almost complete. I finally found him, the man I must kill to avenge."]**_

"Eh?" Antonio blinked.

_Crap, I knew it._ Charice sighed. _It's one of us._

_**["I'm surprised, though…the man that did all of this to me actually bothered to show his face here."]**_ Gilbert raised his blade. _**["I've taken all the subordinates down…and I'm only close to one…"]**_

"One? What the hell are you talking about?" Lovino spat.

Gilbert twirled his blade in the air in a dramatic fashion _(cause let's face it, he's Gilbert)_ and aimed it directly at Alfred, shocking him. Instantly, Arthur jumped between him and the blade, his hands open for any block on the attack.

_**["I already took care of you, you Brit! Why're you trying to save him?"]**_

"He has no knowledge of what happened, Gilbert!" Arthur screamed back. "He is completely innocent of everything that happened! All the bloodstains are on me!"

"Arthur, what are you-?"

"_**PREEMPTIVE STRIKE!"**_

The Shadow jumped out of the way as Charice and Li Xiao landed their attacks on the floor before them. Everyone jumped into place as Gilbert lifted his blade up and pointed it at the men before him, glowing a bright purple aura. Which means _this can't be good, can it?_

_**["Those who aid my enemy shall be destroyed by the wrath of God! For I am justice, and justice is me!"]**_ Gilbert twirled the blade. _**["You do NOT know who you're dealing with!"]**_

"For lack of better word…" Charice sighed. "I think we do."

**/= "Mysterious Figure" by Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep =/**

The Shadow morphed into something that looked like a damaged eagle / dragon thing, holding a sharpened sword in its claws and erupting of fire(?) and smoke. Banners tied his neck and wings as he screeched toward the users before it. The room warped until it became something out of a Kingdom Hearts palace. The guy's got taste.

_**["I AM A SHADOW…THE TRUE SELF."]**_ The Shadow squawked. _**["WHICH MEANS THAT I WILL MAKE SURE THAT MY REVENGE IS COMPLETE…THOSE WHO STAND BETWEEN US WILL BE MY NEXT LUNCH!"]**_

…_Okay, not creepy at all._ She shivered.

Li Xiao and Kiku crouched down and charged toward the Shadow, their Personas erupting from their hands and dealing considerable damage to its wings. It responded with a huge Garu spell that knocked them down, then pecking into Matthew's stomach which caused him to drop to the floor.

"Dude! You OK?"

"…_Alfred, look out!"_

The American looked up and saw that it was charging toward him, screeching all the way. He was about to summon his Persona when a bright light flashed behind him, shooting laser beams toward it. It went screaming back, causing him to turn around and see Arthur with that huge bird Persona thing he had.

"I thought I told you: your target is me!" He stated. "Alfred is completely clean of all this!"

"Arthur!" Alfred darted his head. "What are you-?"

The Shadow slashed through Arthur, sending him careening through the pillars and into the wall. Charice knew it hurt, for the elite smell of blood quickly filled her nostrils. She almost gagged as she headed over to him, seeing the bird fly overhead toward him, screaming.

_**["I TOLD YOU THAT ANYONE WHO GETS IN MY WAY WILL DIE!"]**_

_Crap crap crap crap CRAAAAAP!_

She looked up and saw Lovino fuse with his Persona, his feet starting to run so fast that it was actually keeping up with the Shadow. But the wings tossed him away, and he succeeded in grabbing Arthur and dragging him up the wall. He was gagging for air, trying desperately to summon his Persona.

_**["YOU'RE IN OVER YOUR HEAD, YOU BRIT."]**_

He squeezed harder, and she could hear Arthur gagging in pain. The wind around him was preventing them from getting even close to attacking him. _Come on, Charice…THINK!_

_**["ANY LAST WORDS, ARTHUR? MAKE THEM GOOD, CAUSE IT'LL MAKE THIS A LOT EASIER FOR ME…"]**_

"…_cum sanguis martyris funditur…"_

_Eh?_

"…_et lacrimas maestus cadunt lucida…"_

_**["NICE CHOICE OF FINAL WORDS! YOU'RE QUITE THE ENTERTAINER, YOU KNOW THAT?"]**_

"_Gladus Dei…fode judicii…"_

The Shadow began to laugh again as he finally choked the life out of Arthur, throwing him away like a rag doll. Alfred's scream rocked the air as he charged toward the Shadow with guns blazing. Antonio quickly joined in as well, Okuninushi erupting into his axe and swinging like a conquistador would do _(wait, were those…tomato seeds flying in the air?)_. Matthew quickly ran to Arthur's side as Li Xiao jumped right in front of them.

"How is he?" He asked.

"…_he's really hurt…"_ He answered. _"D-do any of you have healing abilitites?"_

"…let's hope Charice does."

Nonetheless, she was too busy raging over the Shadow to notice anything different. She was throwing poleaxe after poleaxe, forgetting that she had Persona in the first place. Once she did remember that, she threw open Principality and started to beat the crap out of whatever she can do.

"Why isn't anything _**working!"**_ She screamed.

"This is a video game, right?" Alfred stated. "We just need a cheat code or something!"

"Figure out that cheat code for us, can you? You're the big gamer!" Kiku jumped over feather darts.

"_**You're the one**_ making the games!" Alfred shot toward the bird, the bullets flying off. "You make the cheat codes!"

"Wait a minute…cheat codes, cheat codes…" Charice clapped her hands together. "Like GOD MODE!"

She quickly threw her hands in the air, summoning Phoenix. Suddenly, the air around them began to tense up as the darkness in the world began to clear, clouds separating as if there was something coming through. It was then that Lovino started to shiver: he knew what was going to happen.

"_**Dammit GET OUT OF THE WAY!"**_

Charice jumped out of the way as thousands of golden swords started raining from the sky, pinning the Shadow to the ground. One sword landed on Alfred's gun, transforming it into a blade. Charice took that as her cue to summon Siegfried, and then snapped her fingers.

"Cheat Code #1: _**God Mode!**_ Cheat Code #2: _**Character Fusion!"**_ She pointed to Alfred. "Siegfried, **go!****"**

The man launched forward and fused with Alfred, outfitting him with his own…minus the lack of pants. He stared at the sword as his hand in confusion.

"Siegfried's famous for slaying the dragon, Alfred!" She screamed. "Go ahead! Be Siegfried!"

"OK! _**Let's go!"**_ He threw himself in the air. _**"Rainy Death!"**_

The blade went right through the monster, and she could hear the screeches of pain and agony coming from it. Before anything would disappear, she looked up and saw that her Strength Arcana was up from her hand, erupting from Alfred's body, and the whole world was erupted in a glow.

**/=+=/**

**And now I will leave you with this message: NEXT CHAPTER, YOU FIND OUT JUST WHAT THE WHOLE SUBPLOT WAS LEADING UP TOO! HOPE THE SUSPENCE DOESN'T KILL YOU!**

**:D**


	32. World War II

**And now the main meat of the World War II subplot…the one that a lot of you gave up AlCha for **_**(sorry girls, I had to)**_**…the reason why all of this is happening…THROUGH A FLASHBACK! OK, this flashback is different now that Charice is gaining power, so the setup is like this.**

_This is the stuff that's happening in the memory._

This is the stuff that Charice and 'friend(s)' are thinking and saying while the memory is taking place.

**Thought the new layout would confuse people, so there's a little explanation :D**

**Saya: O RLY THEN? *goes plot bunny hunting***

**/= "September" by Daughtry =/**

"_Hey, you! Get over here!"_

"_Eh? W-what?"_

"_Convert! Convert!"_

_He was running around the plains, harassing this one guy in a simple uniform, annoyingly pleading for him to convert…to what, she didn't quite catch. After a few minutes of that, she was watching him running around harassing a little boy who was, for the most part, able to harass him back. Until she realized that he was calling 'him' Hungary. Then it just got weird. Fast._

"_=== + === + ==="_

"Whoa…is that Gilbert?"

"Eh? Alfred?"

"Whoa! Charice, you're here too! Where's everyone else?"

"I think we've been separated from them, brought into the past."

"The past? This is Gilbert's past?"

"You're the wrong person to ask. But I would like to assume so."

"_=== + === + ==="_

_He stretched out his fingers and arms and yawned loudly. His kingdom was expanding exponentially, growing strong, perhaps rivaling that French Empire headin' over on the side over there. Sooner or later, he's going to take over this entire globe and just win the whole world over!_

"_Are you seriously going to sit over there all day?"_

"_Eh? Oi, old man Fritz!" He jumped to his feet. "Thought you were out doin' some business and stuff!"_

"_It's a king's duty to see to a nation's wellbeing, of course." He answered. "But here I thought it meant that you'd be doing something to at least help me."_

"_I'm just stayin' out of the way, man! You're the one makin' me strong, all on your own!" He grinned. "And seriously, I'm grateful for that."_

_The man merely smiled as he went about his business, leaving the nation to stare at the kingdom that he had helped expanded. There were no words that needed to be exchanged through that simple conversation: Fritz knew well that Gilbert was a loyal man, and Gilbert knew that he wasn't going to stop listening to him. He seemed like a cool guy. Nonetheless, he was human, nothing like him. The time they had together was precious in a way, and soon he wouldn't have a cool guy like him around anymore._

"…_hey Fritz! Where else are we invadin' today?"_

"_=== + === + ==="_

_So that man Austria's just going to come rearing up demanding a fight in exchange for land? Did this guy really know any better? Especially since his awesome scouting had allowed him to find his house without any problems? He took a few troops with him in case he needed back-up to raid a nation's house, but…seriously? There's only one woman in the house! There was no way that she would be able to fight off a few human soldiers, not to mention the great Prussian Empire himself!_

"_So…are we ready?"_

"_We're ready whenever you are, sir."_

"_All right then…let's go!"_

_And with a quick breather, he pulled out his sword and gave the signal. The small group dashed into the house and kicked the door open, ready to attack anyone who attacked back._

…

"_**What the hell?"**_

"What? What is it?"

"This is part of Gilbert's memory too, invading Roderich's house and taking something important…so we should be allowed to see it!"

"And…we're not?"

"**APPARENTLY** we're not!"

Alfred huffed as he dashed toward the open door, startled to see that something resembling a barrier had held him back. Charice didn't fare well either, so they were forced to try looking through the windows to see if anything was happening. Nonetheless, they only saw a fighting Elizabeta from the far reaches of the kitchen before they couldn't see anything else. There were a few muffled voices that none of them could pick up _(they were German, so she couldn't understand, and Alfred couldn't hear any of it)_ before there were stomping feet heading down the stairs.

"All right, here we go…!"

_Yes, finally! He found what he was looking for! Now there was no way that Austria was going to win…all the cards were stacked against him. With Italy fighting by his side, his 'son' in a way, he will soon give in._

"**HEY!** Charice, what is he holding?"

"I don't have a clue! He's running too fast! Can you see anything?"

"Nothing! Why the hell is he hiding this from us?"

"_=== + === + ==="_

_He was growing up so fast. When he first got Ludwig, he was barely a child hitting age five. Now, in just a few years, he was already towering his older brother's height and having such a deeper voice! He had to be the most interesting nation that he had to have met. Of course, it was all because he was just that awesome on raising him and stuff…but still! The only other nation to have done something in that short a time period (barely fifty years!) was that other nation…America, was it?_

"Hell, yeah, I've grown that close. That's because I was THE colony of England!"

Charice kept herself quiet, focusing instead on Ludwig. According to what Gilbert was thinking, he had grown up into the man he was now in just thirty years, heck maybe even less than that! Yeah, Alfred was like that too, but the only other person that she knew that fell into that category too was…well, for the lack of a better word without making him a Gary Sue, Rizal. He had come to her at the age of four, and was immediately sixteen starting the Spanish-Filipino War. The rally of independence was deep…

"_Soooo…Lud! You having fun there sorting out all this information for no reason?"_

"_Bruder, you really don't understand. Your kingdom is stable enough to handle a few days of vacation." He turned back to his papers. "If I look away for just one second, civil war might descend upon the whole continent."_

"_Ah, don't worry about it. I've seen these men, they'll handle compromise."_

"_**I've**__ seen these men. They'll break out into war whenever they want too. The world isn't safe yet." He stated. "Until then, I cannot rest."_

"_Is that why you formed an alliance with that guy Roderich? He's just so unawesome and he's not going to help much in wars!"_

She couldn't help but notice that as he began to ramble, there was just something on Ludwig's face. It didn't look like disgust…which is common since everyone is now united and acting like crazed roommates than former nations at war. It looked more like…um…dare she say it, empty?

"_No, bruder."_

"_Then why?"_

"…_I don't know. My boss said that we should and…I said yes without even thinking about it."_

"_What? You haven't met him beforehand, so…"_

"_I just don't know…like I felt drawn to him."_

"Dude, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Not in the least, but we'll talk about this later."

_As he was shifting through the papers, he finally got his hands on the news article. His face paled as he read the headline: __**ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND OF AUSTRIA ASSASINATED**__.__ He held his breath for a few minutes before lowering his hands._

"_I have to go."_

"_Eh? Why?"_

"_I…have a meeting that I have to attend to."_

"_You serious man? Here I thought you were on top of all this! What's up with you forgetting dates and stuff-"_

_But he was already gone._

"_=== + === + ==="_

"…well, that's weird."

"What is it?"

"We should either be seeing another memory or going back to the others…but we're not doing anything…"

"…_**well THAT SUCKS!"**_

"Hah?"

"Gilbert, if you can hear me, you better answer me this question: why do you hate me so much? What did I do to gain this much disapproval?"

"…yeah, you better answer that question, Gil-kun! Al here seriously wants to know! We're not going to tell anyone if it just includes him! Just please, show us!"

"_**"Friendship" by HetaOni**__ + ==="_

_Rain. Endless, endless rain._

_He knew what it felt like to lose a war (even though it rarely happened, DERP), but to actually see a nation that had lost a war and suffer like this…and he was close to him…was just horrible. Both of them were covered with battle scars and dry blood, but by the looks of things Ludwig had it worse. He was standing helplessly next to the Allied Forces, his eyes barely looking like they were focusing anymore._

"_As you may already know, the German nations have lost this war again." France stated, trying his best not to show any sign of breaking. They were best friends, of course._

"…_yeah, I know. It was that damn __**Austria's**__ fault! Mein bruder should've __**NEVER**__ trusted that bastard!"_

_He started getting violent, throwing the other nations off. It was then that Arthur began to see something: Ludwig's eyes were hazing over just a little bit. He looked over to Alfred, who was just beginning to wonder if the guy needed a pillow to sleep or something._

"_Alfred…would you mind going to our leaders to see that all arrangements have been agreed with?"_

"_Eh? Aw, come on! All arrangements have been dealt with!"_

"_Not all of them. We still need conformation on what we should do about returning territory back to the others. They'll need a nation to save nations."_

"_But-"_

"_We'll be doing nothing of major importance here. You won't miss out on much."_

_Alfred mumbled something to himself before heading off into the ruins of the town to see the meeting leaders. Meanwhile, Ivan stepped forward with some of his Russian soldiers and took a hold of Gilbert's arms, making him flinch in shock._

"_And as par a bit of our agreement, I officially own you." He grinned. "You're now one with me, da?'_

"_Hey, let me go! This is so unawesome!" He spat. "I'll have my revenge on you, you bastard!"_

"_You won't be able to…" Matthew whispered. "The Kingdom of Prussia has been dissolved."_

"_**WHAT?"**_

"_Your territory will be divided between the USSR and Poland. Be grateful, for this will keep you alive for a few more years." Arthur said, trying to pin himself as the bad guy. "But at this rate…you won't last to the next decade."_

"_Eh? Well, surely that's a little drastic." Ivan said, a little surprised. "This man had nothing to do with the German advancement, you know. Why should he have some of the blame?"_

"_Because we all know for a fact that he'll aid his brother in a heartbeat." Arthur said, interrupting Francis. "That is why I did this."_

"Wait, **WHAT?"**

"_Wait, what?" He began to struggle, remembering something. "What about Ludwig? What about mein bruder?"_

"_Germany is no longer trustable about handling himself." Arthur stated in his serious voice. "As of today, his territory will be divided up into four territories, run by me, France, America and Russia. Furthermore, his capital city Berlin will be divided into four zones as well-"_

"_You're doing all of this to him while he has a major recession going on and his country is in turmoil? You can't do that!" He screamed. "He won't-"_

"_**Gilbert!"**__ A scream echoed out. "It's all right…I accept these terms. All of them?"_

"_All of them…? Why? They're disgracing you, bruder! __**Tell me WHY!"**_

_He was silent for a few seconds before Ludwig collapsed onto the ground, mud coating his raggedy uniform. Gilbert started struggling as he saw his brother smile and start glowing strangely, illuminating the rain around him. The glow was focusing into little orbs, sinking deep into Gilbert's body._

"_Bruder…it's…all you now…"_

"_Lud-?"_

"_I…can't…hold the burden…anymore…" He smiled. "You are Germany now…risen…from the ashes of your kingdom…and mine…"_

"_Wait, hold up a second!"_

_He successfully tore through the arms of the soldiers and grabbed his brother's body, sobbing openly and not caring for basically anything around him. As much as he never ever wanted to admit it, he never wants to be alone. And with the death of the man that he had __raised__ since childhood, it was a worst dream come to life._

"_I can't just take over your land, dammit! You're not leaving me! Stop it, stop it!"_

"_Gilbert…stay strong…for my people…need you now…" Ludwig smiled. He actually smiled. "Cause…big brother…knows…best…"_

_His body completely dissipated into the rain, sinking deeper and deeper into Germany's brain._

Charice couldn't handle any more of this. As the screams of rage and heartbreak echoed throughout the rain, she could see the faces of the other nations staring at Arthur, who for the most part took most of the blame to protect the others. Many of them were nearing recession as well, Arthur included. But the fact that Gilbert had lost his brother like this…

Meanwhile, Alfred stood there shocked. Since he had only seen Germany again during Ronald Reagan's speech at the Berlin Wall, he never knew that any of this could be his fault. He looked at his hands and knew just how naïve he was. Here he thought nations were like superheroes and super villains: kill them all you want, they'll come back for more. _And you're saying that I…?_

When they came back to their world, Charice was too busy crying to notice the difference.

**/=+=/**

**See why Alfred was so important to the subplot?**


	33. Loose Ends Are Tied

**And now…the aftermath.**

**/= "Friendship" by HetaOni =/**

Li Xiao had no other way to describe it. When Charice and Alfred went missing, it unnerved him, but when they came back…to see her in such a startled mess…he knew it only had something to do with what they saw before. Nonetheless, he was still the only person who had no idea what had happened.

"Charice! Alfred!" Kiku ran to them. "Are you all right…?"

The both of them stayed silent, Alfred's eyes glazed over in shock and Charice sobbing in her hands. After a few minutes, Alfred walked forward and stood in front of Gilbert's Shadow, sobbing quietly on the floor.

"…you had over sixty years, Gil…why didn't you say anything?"

The Shadow said nothing, turning his head away and covering his face. Arthur took a deep breath and walked toward Alfred, his hand out to shake him. But then, he grabbed his shoulders and shook the Brit until his eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

"_**Why didn't you tell me about this, Arthur?"**_ He screamed.

"_Alfred…?"_

"_**Hello! Ludwig's been dead for over sixty years! As everyone else was recovering from the war, they were hating me with a **__**passion!**__** And no one told me why!"**_ He shook him. "You didn't bother to tell me anything! Tell me why! _**Arthur!"**_

"…_I didn't want this burden on you."_ Arthur pushed him away calmly. _"I didn't want this on anyone. I fought the majority of this war until you and Ivan came in. I have to take responsibility-"_

"…you're insane, Arthur. I was a grown man back then, I could've handled it!"

"But did you even consider the possibility?"

"…w-what possibility?"

"That we're vulnerable to death like the rest of the world?" Arthur sighed. "You've lived forever, Alfred. Chances are you've never seen a nation die before."

Alfred looked down in shock, the realization running through his mind, leaving the whole room to think. Meanwhile, Antonio turned his head and headed toward Charice, whose sobs had quieted down and left her to just thinking about it. The Strength Arcana card danced in her hands.

"_Are you all right, mi querido?"_

"…_padre? Can I ask you a question?"_

"_Tell me."_

"_I felt it…fifty years of pain and loss…something he never told anyone."_ Charice held the card close to her. _"It hurts inside…like someone's expanding all the veins in my body…"_

"_That's grief that you're feeling, Charice. The pain of losing someone that they truly loved and cared for."_ He rubbed her back. _"Something that I hoped Rizal did his best to protect you from."_

"_He did, Antonio…but I still don't get it. He's still mourning?"_ She looked up, the pain seething away from her body. _"Ludwig's alive, isn't he?"_

"Well, yes he is, but-"

_**["H-he's alive?"]**_

Everyone looked up and saw the Shadow pushing himself up into a sitting position, his eyes redder than usual and wiping the tears away from his face. After a few minutes, what he just said sank into their brains. And I mean REALLY sank in.

"Well, _**yeah.**_ The potato bastard's been alive!" Lovino spat. "Since the reunification!"

"_He didn't know this before?"_ Matthew blinked.

Alfred turned his head around.

_**["…so mein bruder is alive…where is he?"]**_

"…he's…in our realm." Lovino tilted his head. "Outside this building."

"Yeah!" Alfred chirped, trying to keep his spirits high. "Where we come from, there's beer!"

"And video games." Kiku informed.

"As well as a lot of food that'll make you happy!" Alfred added.

"With a lot of people that you can brag about for hours on end!" Antonio tacked on.

"And _**Italians! **__**LOTS AND LOTS**___of Italians!" Charice chirped.

"_**WHAT THE HELL, Charice?"**_ Lovino screamed.

"I'm just saying!" She walked up to him. "But the most important thing is that your brother is there, and he's very happy."

_**["…thank gott. Here I tried to seek something that I never needed…"]**_

"Revenge is never a necessity. It's nothing more than a time burner." Li Xiao said from behind everyone. "Fortunately for you, you have all the time in the world."

_**["All the time…? But I'm a dissolved nation. I should be dead…"]**_

"No, Gilbert. You're not." Li Xiao looked at everyone. "If what I'm getting from the other nations is right, then you're no longer Prussia."

_**["Then what am I?"]**_

"You are like the Italian brothers, the Northern and Southern halves." He nodded. "East and West…you are now East Germany."

"That makes sense…Gilbert took over the role as Germany after Ludwig…" Charice stayed quiet.

_**["Does…does my brother need me?"]**_

"He needs you, Gilbert. Even though he doesn't admit it." Antonio smiled. "Will you come with us and make sure of that?"

_**["…yeah. Why not? Guess I'm just that awesome that way."]**_

He smiled as the Shadow's flames faded away from the body, revealing an unconscious Gilbert shrunken down into a child with white robes and a small sword by his side. Charice quickly picked him up and turned to the other guys, who were relieved that everything had been resolved.

"So…I guess we can go home now." She stated.

"_That's good."_ Matthew smiled. _"I was starting to get a little scared of this place…"_

"Honk honk."

"Eh?"

_***grope grope***_

…

"_**DAMN YOU GILBERT!"**_

**/=+=/**

As they walked toward the entrance of the realm, they saw that the portrait of the man in the middle was glowing to reveal the way out. Charice quickly realized that it was "Old Fritz" from Gilbert's memories, something that he had remarked upon when they were heading toward it.

"So we can leave now, right?" Kiku asked.

"Yeah, we can." Arthur stated. "Hopefully, we can leave all of this behind."

"No…not yet." Alfred stated. "I can only let this go after one more thing…"

"_B-brother…?"_

"Well, whatever that is, we should make sure that we get back home."

Everyone nodded as they walked through the portal back home. After a few minutes, Charice looked up and saw that Gilbert still didn't walk through, staring at the land that was created by his own guilt and hidden pain. He chuckled for a few minutes before turning toward her.

"You know that this is the first house that I had, right?"

"Eh?"

"When I was formed, it was in this house." Gilbert chuckled. "Messed up, really."

"Well, I think all nations were formed in houses and not battlefields." She answered.

"Except me, of course…the second time around." He sighed. "So…ready to head back?"

"Of course."

"Awesome! When I get back, I am going to eat _**EVERYTHING**_ at rehearsal!"

"Wait, we have a rehearsal today?"

"Uh…yeah."

"…_**CRAAAAAAP!"**_

**/=+=/**

She didn't know how, but it was the first time that she literally dove through a portal to the other side. As she cleaned herself off, she looked up and barely saw the life returning to the man's body. She took a deep breath of relief as he sat up and looked up to the others, giving off his trademark grin.

"A-OK!"

"That's great…" Lovino sighed. "Now can we go back to living our ordinary lives?"

"Wish we can." Li Xiao answered. "But whoever did that's still out there."

"Great, just _**great."**_ Lovino spat. "I'm going to kill that bastard, whoever he is."

The entire time, Alfred stood there silently, thinking hard on what he was going to do. Gilbert smiled and stepped up, walking to the American and slapping his back hard, making it echo along the river brook.

"There's a rehearsal today, man." He stated. "Ludwig's going to be there."

Alfred's head darted up.

"If you want to confront him there, I won't stop you." He grinned. "But you better tell me what happens after!"

Alfred nodded before dashing toward to school. Before she knew it, Charice was following suit.

**/=+=/**

There were just so many things to do before Francis could even run his show.

Ludwig grumbled to himself as he sorted out papers left out by the other actors and set them in a place that they should be able to see later. Everyone had to be such a mess when they're trying to remember their lines while getting into costume, don't they? He was about to complain when he heard someone slam into the doorway. He turned his head and saw a rather peeved off Alfred F. Jones holding onto the wall, sweat running down like he ran from the other side of the world.

"Um…is something wrong, Alfred?"

"_**Everything's**_ wrong, Ludwig! No one told me shit!" He slammed his fist against the wall. "Why didn't you confront me on this?"

"…confront you on what?"

"You know what I'm talking about, dammit! **World War II!** **The aftermath!** _**The fact that I just sent you to the **__**slaughterhouse**__** and allowed a damn **__**commie**__** I barely trusted to handle the man who took your place!"**_ He screamed. _**"Why didn't you say anything!"**_

"Would you want me to act out on revenge so soon after I had lost another war?" Ludwig answered calmly, sorting out papers while his gaze barely separated from him.

"No, but-"

"That is why."

"_**Not that!**_ You could've…you could've at least given me dirty looks or cursed my name _**or **__**something!**_ Hell, everyone else had been doing that for the past fifty years!"

"They have?" Ludwig looked surprised.

"_**Fuck yeah they did!**_ Kiku talked to me only in business terms, Lovino cursed me out whenever he wanted to, Feliciano couldn't even _**look**_ at me without crying, hell even Roderich and Elizabeta started treating me like I had the goddamn plague or something!" He was really going mad with cursing. "In fact, the only person that hadn't cursed me into the nine rings of hell is the man I've stabbed in the stomach! The man that had a billion more reasons to just slit my throat out! _**So why didn't you?"**_

The room stood in silence, Ludwig staring at the American who was clearly out of breath. After a few seconds, he sighed and continued doing what he was doing.

"I've considered it a thousand times, Alfred. Don't get me wrong." He answered. "But there's something that I know that no one else does…not even Feliciano."

"_**Hah? WHY?"**_

"He never bothered to ask, and I figured it wasn't going to help settle anything that time would heal." Ludwig smiled. "Yes, you did have a hand in my death, Alfred…but you were also the hand that brought me back."

"_**HAH?**__**"**_ He was really confused. "H-how?"

Ludwig chuckled as he continued to sort out everything backstage. After a few minutes, he stood there for a few minutes and turned his back to the American as he cocked his head up to the sky and said something that echoed through his mind.

"**Mr. Gorbachev…tear down this wall!"**

**/= [FLASHBACK] =/**

"_Alfred? You've been down for a while."_

"_Eh? Oh, I'm fine Ron. Don't mind me." He sighed, looking out the window. "I've…just been wondering about how Ludwig is."_

"_Ludwig?"_

"_Oh, right…I didn't tell you…Germany, I was wondering about Germany."_

"_It's been recovering well since the war, hasn't he?"_

"_Yeah…but I haven't seen him in a while…I'm worried about him."_

"_Must be the inner German in you." Reagan smiled. "Being the land of freedom, you have a little bit of everything in you."_

"_Yes, indeed…though that part of me feels dead…"_

"_Must be because the Russians are keeping a hard grip on the Eastern half…"_

"_Yes…maybe if he's free, I'll see him again."_

"_Well then…I guess we should finally act upon it…"_

"_Act upon what?"_

_Reagan stood up from his seat and walked toward the door of the Oval Office, allowing Alfred to look up and stare at his boss as he straightened out his tuxedo and turn toward him with a smile on his face._

"_I'm going to Berlin to have a chat with Gorbachev…would you like to come along?"_

**/=+=/**

_The long speech that Reagan was saying was barely registering in Alfred's head. Instead, he was looking around at the Germans that were cheering on Reagan's every words. He couldn't help but wonder if he could see Ludwig through all of this. Instead, he looked up and saw that Feliciano and Lovino were watching the whole speech while hidden from the others._

"_You two…"_

"_Eh? Oh great, it's you." Lovino spat. "What, are you here to piss off the Germans again? Aren't you done rubbing defeat in these guys' faces?"_

"_Eh? What are you talking about? Reagan and I are here to tell the Russian leader to break down the Berlin Wall and reunify Germany." Alfred blinked. "What's the problem with that?"_

_Those words made Lovino and Feliciano mumble something to themselves before their eyes widened. Alfred was about to say something when he realized that there was something that was glowing behind him. After he turned, he only saw a familiar face rubbing his down hair and opening his eyes slowly._

"_Oh man, DUDE! I've been wonderin' what you've been up to!" Alfred slapped his back. "How've ya been?"_

"…_? America?"_

"_Dude, no formalities! It's the 90s, man! Call me Al! Everyone is!"_

_He didn't know why, but Ludwig was looking around in confusion like he had no idea what was going on. It was only until he saw Ronald Reagan speak in his American accent about tearing down the wall that he understood what was going on. He turned his head before seeing a crying Feliciano push Alfred away and sob on him with no end._

"_Geez…how busy were you this entire time, not to see Feli like that!" He laughed. "You're really work-orientated, huh?"_

_No one remarked upon it, so Alfred said nothing, staring instead to the Italian clinging onto Ludwig for dear life._

**/=+=/**

"Is that it…?"

"From what I was told, Feliciano got the news of what happened from Lovino…and he was extremely biased on you and Arthur. He couldn't even bring himself to forgive you…said it happened before." Ludwig stated. "It was even harder to assimilate after I was gone for fifty years."

"So why didn't you say anything…?"

"When a nation suffers recession or is formally dissolved, we cease to exist." He stated. "The exact opposite has the other effect: when a nation recreates them, they are created again."

"So…so I…"

"Yes. And there is a part of me that still wants revenge for what you did…but I'm grateful for what you did to my people."

"…thanks, man. I just found out today about everything, so…"

"That's all right. I forgive you."

"Sweet! You're not a bad man, you know!" He laughed. "You know, you should enjoy life more!"

"That's what everyone's been telling me these days."

"Well, that's the truth!" He laughed again. "Then again, isn't that why you're Javert?"

"Don't rub it in…"

"Pfft…you know, if you want, there's a great place that I can bring you over too for lunch."

"Is it McDonalds again?"

"Hell yeah!"

"…" He smiled. "Why not."

"_**SWEEET!"**_ Alfred jumped and headed out. "I'll pick you up when break's up!"

Ludwig watched as Alfred skipped out to the stage just as Francis was calling around the cast. If he had stayed around, perhaps he would have noticed the strange shadow that had covered the German's eyes once more.

**/=+=/**

**And that's the subplot in a nutshell! So now that Gilbert is saved, it's…you guessed it, FILLER CHAPTERS!**


	34. Glee Club Interview

**Fillers? They're back? AW MAAAAN!**

**/= [DAY 40] =/**

She looked around the hallways during lunchtime as she began her walk toward the newspaper room. Ludwig was finally pushing for Feliciano to interview her and Alfred about the Glee Club that he happened to be a part of. Nonetheless, after everything that happened that day, she doesn't know if she could handle see Ludwig without seeing a dead man in the rain.

Fortunately, when she entered the room, the fear didn't come to her. Maybe it was because Kiku's soft smile had calmed her. Or it was probably because Alfred was already there and was stuffing McDonald's in his face. Yeah, that could be it. The German phobia wasn't affecting her as bad, which was good.

"There you are, Charice." He stated. "I hope you weren't lost."

"I got distracted." She sat down. "OK, what are we starting out with?"

"Ve~~~~" Feliciano looked down to a notepad. "How about a small summary about what the Glee Club is?"

"It's a club that _**SINGS TO THE SOUL!"**_

"That's nice, Alfred, but we want something that seems to sound a little professional."

"Professional? Doitsu-ki, he's eating McDonald's. You're not getting professional." Charice laughed.

"Well then…what would you say the Glee Club is?" He asked.

"Well, the Glee Club is basically like a chorus group only with more advanced proficiencies. We sing shortened versions of certain songs that people wish to hear us sing, while setting up our own shows and putting them in with events when need be." Charice said, folding her legs and placing her hands on her lap. "People can join Glee Club if they wish to obtain or show off their singing or acapella skills."

"How about those that have no singing talent whatsoever?" Kiku said, his eyes turning to Alfred.

"Well, there is the Music Club run by Roderich. He'll be picky on what he wants, but as long as you have talent in a certain instrument, he'll allow you in it."

"Yeah…what she said!"

Nonetheless, Alfred was too busy eating to see it, but Feliciano and Ludwig were shocked at how professional she sounded. Kiku, however, wasn't. He had seen her once during a meeting when it came to trade regulations. She spoke in a formality that seemed to proceed her age when humans were around.

"Interesting…" Ludwig looked back to his notepad. "Who came up with this idea?"

"He did. He thought it'd be cool, but forgot to actually advertise it." Charice said, totally not rubbing it in his face. "We had to do it the next day, and we got a good crowd."

"Are there any upcoming plans?" Ludwig asked.

"Yeah~!" Alfred grinned. _**"And we're going to need you."**_

Before Charice knew it, Alfred grabbed Ludwig and dragged him out of the room, the other two following. It took longer for her to realize that she was alone in the room. She gave up and headed out the door.

**/= [DAY 41] =/**

"Ah~! Hola, mi querida~!"

"Hi to you too, Antonio!" She chirped, heading to the tomato garden. "You planting more?"

"For next year, of course. We're going to be here for three more years before we're done and this becomes a public college." He informed. "That's the agreement."

"Oh, I see…" She laughed. "Well, none of us ever experienced a high school, so…I guess it all works out!"

Antonio laughed. It was a different one than what her memories recalled. She remembered a cold laugh, something resembling a conquistador who wanted nothing more than land, wealth and power. It was accented with eyes that were just as beastly and dare she say it…scary. What it was now was…warm. It was soft…kind…the same one that he'd probably been giving Lovino this entire time.

"I guess so, querida." He grinned. "But at least we all get to see each other in the end, instead of being separated."

"That's true…" She shrugged. "We don't have to worry about being separated from someone and never seeing them again."

"True…but after everything that happened back there…"

"Eh?"

"This murderer…will he be going after Lovi…?"

"I don't know what the order is…I'm sorry." Charice sighed. "If I knew, well…I'd be able to stop him already and none of this would've happened."

"Maybe…then again, I'd never be able to face that part of me." Antonio answered. "And since these deaths are reversible, it just helps us even more~!"

"So…you're saying this is a _**good**_ thing?"

"No, no~! Death is never a good thing. But I guess the fact that you're forced to see something you never thought existed before…" Antonio nodded. "I feel…uplifted."

"More than when you're drunk and trying out Canadian weed?"

"Ahahahaha~"

_O…kay…_

"Hey! What're you corrupting her with this time, bastard?"

Antonio and Charice turned their heads to see Lovino walking toward them, a rather annoyed look on his face. It was then that started thinking the same thing: well, they jumped him. Hard.

**/=+=/**

**Short filler, but filler nonetheless. Hey, in case you're curious, Lovino and Antonio aren't in a relationship, so they're open for Charice to take~ :D**

**And on another note, I'm starting to work on that GerRiz fic.**


	35. Stage Crews and Paintings

**Wheel of the Filler, turn turn turn. Tell us the mayhem that we should learn~**

**By the way, I'm going to tally up all the votes for certain nations to be Charice's soulmate. I'll take it if you voted for multiple people, and taken nations won't be tallied, so don't expect to see Alfred on this list.**

**[Li Xiao]- 5**

**[Matthew]- 5 **

**[Kiku]- 4**

**[Feliciano]- 1**

**[Lovino]- 1**

…**well, I can understand Matthew's votes…but where did the Li Xiao fans come from? And where were they hiding XD?**

**/= [DAY 42] =/**

Alfred was gathering some of the men for the Glee Club meeting today, so Charice and the girls decided that they were going to go to the auditorium par his instructions. When they got there, they saw that Rizal was there talking and ordering around some guys that seemed to be running around onstage. She barely noticed that one of them was Eduard…or maybe it was Ludwig, who knows? They all look the freakin' same now that the German's got glasses.

That's when she saw another one.

She stared at the man who looked like Germany but was definitely not Eduard nor Ludwig. He was hanging out with a small boy with platinum hair and purple eyes like some huge guardian, taking many of the random rants coming from the dude that reminded her of Naruto for some reason. No lines on his face either.

_Who the hell are these people…?_

"Oh, are you part of the Stage Crew too?"

She turned her head and saw a man walking toward her, holding a small cardboard box. He kinda looked like a male Elizabeta, but a little more scrawny in that kind of sense…she guessed. He had a soft smile on his face, something that she never thought would be genuine, what with the insane nations running around the hallways.

"No, I'm part of the Glee Club. All the girls were pushed in the auditorium because Alfred wanted us in here." She answered. "My brother is, though. Rizal?"

"Oh, that man? He's very dedicated to organizing this." The man laughed. "Oh, that's right. My name is Toris Laurinaitis…L-Lithuania."

"Charice Pacquiao. The Outer Islands of the Republic of the Philippines." She grinned. "The older one of the siblings."

"Ah, I see. The co-creator of the Glee Club, right?"

"Yep, basically." She laughed. "The creator's having his own project and whatnot."

"Sounds like Alfred." He chuckled. "Ah, so Natalya's part of the club as well?"

"Yeah…but I never really saw her sing before." Charice tilted her head. "We never went through an audition, so most of them might suck-"

"_**WE GOT THE LASSO OUT OF THE CLOSET!"**_

"But there's a knot in it…"

"_**No worries, no worries~!"**_

She tilted her head and turned around to see that Naruto-spawn was dragging a rope out of a rather tight-looking box, throwing up a huge mess of crap with it and harassing the guy that had a floating curl next to his head…seriously, what's with the curls on these nations? Are they just _**asking**_ for molestation? Do they not know Francis at all?

Whatever. Their loss.

"Can I ask who the idiot who's abusing that rope over there is?"

"Oh, him? That's Magnus…I think he's Denmark…or Norway, whoever he is." Toris stated. "The guy next to him with the curl is Lukas…I think he's either Norway or Denmark…I keep mixing the two, they seem to hang out with each other a lot."

"…I can't help you, I'm sorry. At least tell me who the Germany look-alike over there is."

"Eh? Oh, that's Berwald. He's Sweden, I believe."

"…that works." She sighed. "Does he body build?"

"…no?"

"Then why's he so…_**buff?"**_

"I don't know."

"OK…" She sighed. "I'll just talk to them."

"Good enough."

She turned and chirped down the aisle to hang out with the rest of the Stage Crew. She ended up running into a small boy with purple eyes and curly blond hair. He whimpered with shock and started shaking…and he was the cutest thing on the face of the planet. He was as cute as Feliciano…only he really _**was**_ plushie sized.

"Oh, sorry~!" She chirped.

"N-no no no no…I'm sorry!" He chirped. "I didn't see you…"

"Um…never did I." She tilted her head. "I'm Charice~!"

"Y-you're Rizal's sister?"

"Yes I am~! And you are?"

"I'm Raivis…um, Latvia."

"…you're sooo cuuuutteee~!"

"_**Gyaaah!"**_

Everyone looked up and saw Charice cuddling Raivis like he wasn't a nation and he was more like a little boy / plushie. The man named Magnus started laughing out loud, embarrassing everyone there.

"That girl's got major interest in ya, man~!"

"Help…me…can't…_breathe…"_

"Ate, you're suffocating him."

"Am I now?" She let him go, letting him stumble. "He seems OK."

"He's unconscious, Charice."

"Eh? Oh…look at that."

"Ahahahaha~! She's a show, ain't she Tino?"

"Um…sure, why not?"

She stared at all the nations that were annoying the crap out of each other…for the most part…? There's the guy named Magnus, the guy named Lukas, the guy named Berwald, the guy named Tino, and the other guy who she has no idea who the hell he is. He might be related to Lukas…but then again, can anyone really be related to anyone who's not the same nation?

"Are you OK, miss?"

Oh, look at that.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She turned her head to the fifth guy with no name. "Why?"

"I hope you don't mind Magnus…he's a little bossy at times."

"I've seen worse. I had relations with _**Alfred**_, just so you know."

"Oh yeah…" He laughed. "So you must be Rizal's older sister. I've heard some interesting stories about you."

"Define interesting."

"Well…he said you were obsessed with anything cute."

"Yeah…that happens."

"Well…do you consider any one of us cute?"

"Dude, are you hitting on me?"

"No-"

"Cause you have to be a lot less subtle than that."

"No, I'm not hitting on you. I'm just saying it in case you decide to struggle someone to death."

"…struggle?"

"…huggle and strangle."

"_**That's**_ creative."

"I guess…oh, by the way…my name is Emil. I'm the Republic of Iceland."

"Isn't Iceland filled with grass?"

"…yes…I'm the one different from Greenland."

"OK, just making sure. Nice to meet you!"

At that remark, she felt a card in her hand. She waited until Emil had to separate a bit of the argument that bloomed out of nowhere to look at it, seeing as how it was a chariot with two Sphinx cats pulling it. She turned her head to the side and saw a golden demon with a strange outfit on.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_Whoa…why do you sound like Magnus?_

**["AS A DEMON WITH THE BODY OF GOLD, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

The card sank into her body, allowing her to look up and see Rizal look up and see Alfred waving everyone to get off the stage. Confused, Charice went down the stairs and sat down next to a rather confused Elizabeta and other girls. Rizal grinned as he went to the sound booth and lowered the lights to darkness, the curtain closing in front of them.

"_Did any of you guys look at the rehearsals and know what's going on?"_

"_Sorry, Charice."_ Erika answered.

"_They wouldn't let me in."_ Etana sighed.

"_Me neither."_ Natalya sighed.

"_I got a video camera just in case~"_ Elizabeta chirped.

"_Am I the only one a little scared?"_ Seyel turned her head around.

"_Sure, we'll go with that."_ Charice answered.

It was then that the lights came up, and the curtain opened to reveal that the empty stage had been built _(not bad, not bad)_. Suddenly, the Allied Forces, the Axis Powers and the rest of the men in the Glee Club were singing Nsync songs in a beautifully written melody.

She came.

**/= [DAY 43] =/**

Art Class is always so interesting when she's with Asian nations and…well, Feli-chan. As she sat down in front of her easel, she turned her head and saw Li Xiao sitting next to her with an ink bottle and a simple Chinese brush. In front of them, the teacher was telling them that they were going to be painting out their emotions, as a way of venting out and to participate in a small experiment with the Psychology classes. As she plugged in her iPod, she pulled out her art utensils and began.

After a few minutes, she realized that she was painting something that looked like a rainbow comet shooting out sparkles _(whatever the heck that was supposed to be)_. It was then that she realized that she was listening to "Jaden's Rap" on her iPod. God bless the music that Internet singers make. She decided to give herself a few minutes of a mental vent and turned to Li Xiao's picture.

It looked like it was a dragon, holding onto something that wasn't fully painted yet. But what interested her was the look on his face: it was utterly blank. She had no idea what he was thinking as he was painting something that was "supposedly" venting out hidden emotions…whatever they were. She turned back to her own picture and kept painting, occasionally turning back to Li Xiao's picture.

It was then that she saw what was in the dragon's hand.

It looked like it was in a shroud, so she couldn't see anything much, but whatever it was, it was pretty wide, so it must've been something like a picture or something. Her eyes wandered up and saw that Li Xiao was looking at her, causing her to dart back to the picture. Li Xiao sighed, wondering if she figured out what was in the shroud.

It was a broken heart.

**/=+=/**

**Kin-Ki**** is one of the four oni controlled by Fujiwara No Chikata. He was named after gold and has a body that no weapon can scratch or destroy. [Stage Crew - Chariot]**

**Take the ending however you see fit. Oh, and by the way, Psychology Classes and Science in Society Classes are fun as hell! For those of you who have no idea what "Jaden's Rap" is, well, here's the link with spaces: http: / www. youtube. com/ watch?v= K5oEy Fa9XQI &feature= BFa&list= ULhdmcxn CugLA& index=12**


	36. Halloween?  What?

**Ah, the fillers are awesome, aren't they? By the way, are you one of those people that read fanfics and actually imagine people talking the lines that you read? Well then, I decided to help all of you and give you set voices that I usually use for the Philippine twins. I'll give you both English and Japanese voices in case you have preferences.**

**[Charice]- **Hilary Haag_**(big fan of her~!)**_** / **_**Brina Palencia**_**, **Maki Saito** / **_**Aki Kanada**_

**[Rizal]- **Micah Solusod** / **_**Chris Cason**_**, Koki Uchiyama / Jun Fukuyama / **Shunsuke Kazama** / **_**Jun Konno**_

**There are no right answers, so whatever voice you like, you can stick with it. Personally, I use the unbolded ones most often, yet the ones that are underlined and italicized seem more important to the story. Rizal sees himself in Germany for a while, and heck Charice and Feliciano seem similar. For those of you who don't get it, they're the voice actors of Chibitalia and Holy Roman Empire :D**

**/= [DAY 44] =/**

What in the world is wrong with these people?

She first walked into the rehearsal room that day and couldn't help but notice that a lot of the nations were messing over each other. And by that, she meant that the minute she walked in, she could've sworn that Alfred and Gilbert were throwing stuff at each other. That would explain the blood coming out of Feliciano's forehead.

Wait, what?

"All right, _**WHO THE HELL**_ hurt Feli-chan?"

"Um…i-it was Francis!" Lovino pointed at him.

Nonetheless, the rehearsal had to be paused because Charice was beating the hell out of the poor Frenchman. Kiku had to take control, which fortunately didn't involve a crazed Filipina or a severely damaged Frenchman. Actually, it was the scene where Roderich enters the barricade in his sexy sparkly form and make all the girls go nosebleed to death. Nonetheless, Charice would be shipping if…well, yeah.

"_V-ve…Charice…"_

"Eh?" She looked up. _**"GYAH! MY BAABBBBYYYY!"**_

And yes, she did throw the Frenchman away like he was a broken doll in order to cuddle with the bleeding Italian who obviously didn't have a horrible gash on his head…but you know what, he's Italian, so why not huggle him, right? Right?

"_Are you OK, sweetie? Look at me, look at me…"_ She brushed the hair away. _"Are you OK?"_

"_Ve…everything's getting blurry…"_

She quickly lifted him up to the lobby, giving him some fresh air. Feliciano blinked as she quickly pulled out bandages _(total Filipino thing)_ and tied it around the bleeding forehead, making him "ve" cutely and wipe underneath his eyes. Charice knelt next to him.

"Can you stand?"

"_Ve…t-too…dizzy…"_

"Are you sure? Oh, dear Feli-chan…"

Feliciano just "ve"d cutely again before he leaned on Charice's shoulder to sleep, causing her to quietly squeal at herself and cuddle the little boy in her arms. After a few minutes, she heard something that sounded like snoring…as only an Italian bishounen could.

_Whoa…that was quick._ She looked up. _How in the world am I supposed to tell Doitsu-ki about this? Is this technically cheating?_

She looked back down to the sleeping Italian before recuddling him.

_Oh well. He gets all the cuddles, anyway!_

**/= [DAY 46] =/**

"Halloween's coming up."

"Yes, yes indeed. Going to enjoy this?"

"Da."

"I'm sure you will, I-" Charice paused. "Um…who's talking to me?"

"Me, da."

She screamed bloody murder and darted her head around to see the ever-creepy Ivan wave back at her with a smile on his face. He did look innocent, of course…but really, it's still creepy for her to look at it. It was then that she realized just what he said.

"Oh yeah…Halloween." She blinked. "The day where people scare the ever living crap out of each other, right?"

"Of course. Are you going to dress up for that day?"

"U-um…y-yeah…" _God, I need a costume…_ "What are you going as?"

"A bear…or maybe a koala." Ivan chirped. "You?"

"I don't have a clue."

"Well, we're going to have to figure that out soon, da?"

"Well, yeah. We're going trick-or-treating then, right?"

"It's not fun when you're going alone."

"…you're going alone?"

Ivan smiled…but it was a strange, sad smile…before he turned around and headed deeper into the building, supposedly starting up the bell for the first class.

**/=+=/**

"_Oh…Charice."_

"Hah?" She looked up from her table. "Oh, hey Matthew…wait, you're in my class?"

"_Of course I am!"_

"But…this is photography class…"

"_W-what's weird with that?"_

"There're a lot of reasons…"

First of all, all the photography students are females. Heck, even the teacher is a female. Secondly, they haven't started any type of project yet. After a few minutes, the both of them sat down in their seats as the teacher went up to the board.

"Ladies…Matthew…" She nodded. "Today's assignment involves taking pictures of a male figure. We're going to learn how to photoshop someone for him to wear different clothes. Each one of you girls need to choose a different man…think about it, there're a lot of them in this school."

It was then that all the girls started staring at Matthew…

**/=+=/**

**Halloween Event's coming up~! Hey, I might as well throw this out here: there's a subplot that's up on the horizon again! I won't tell you who it is, but I'll give you this: he's the next victim, but you already know who he is. Take a guess who, even though you know~! :D**

**Oh, by the way, I want to ask you guys something: anyone up for Rizal pairings? Keep voting for Charice pairings, but anyone want Rizal to go around? OC nations can work too.**


	37. Germany Sings Like A GOD

**More filler, more filler, more filler…toward the Halloween arc, I guess~!**

**And speaking of scary things, there seems to be a shipping war going on between Kiku and Li Xiao (O_o). Watch, I mess with you all and end up pairing her up with Ger- *shot***

**OH! Speaking of which, it's been canologicaly (?) proven that North Korea is a man! It's been stated by Himayura himself that North Korea is a man that likes music. So I'm sorry, I'm going to keep it that way. North Korea is not a woman. And by the way, Rizal is ****BI****. You don't have to pair him up with just girls -_-"**

**/= [DAY 47] =/**

The Glee Club was going to have another meeting, so Alfred got everyone into the auditorium for the day. Gilbert was mumbling about how this was going to be _"totally awesome"_, despite the fact that Alfred wasn't going to be singing, he wasn't going to be singing…heck, _**who the heck is singing?**_ By the look on their faces, Charice could tell that no one had a clue…save for those two _(freakin' bastards)_.

The darkness was hard on her eyes, but nonetheless she was able to see the Music Club setting stuff up for their performance. There was one person that she could barely see running around in the shadows: judging by the jumping, she knew who the newest member was.

Then the lights came up.

**/= "What I Know" by Parachute =/**

**I take the car and drive the night**

**The white stripes blur and ease my mind**

**When all that's left is a single line**

**Instead of this confusion…**

_Holy crap, Doitsu-ki can sing._

Sure, he was in the Nsync mash-up, but that was when he proved that he could dance for a huge bulky muscular guy. _**This**_…now this was talent. Hell, he was sitting on a stool playing a guitar and singing _(guitars were more Antonio's thing…speaking of which, he's trying to get Lovino to sing along)_. She found herself dancing in her seat.

**She said "I'm in love with someone else" she said**

**I fell in love with someone else, and I**

**I'm in love with someone and that's all that I know for sure.**

"_**Woo!"**_ She screamed. "Love your guitar, man!"

He was too deep into the song to hear her random remark. As it went on, some of them actually started dancing through the alleys. It was then that she realized that the newest member was indeed Yong Soo Im, and he was eyeing Irunya on the drums. That wasn't going to go well in the end.

Well, whatever ended up after that, the song kept going and everyone was having a grand ol' time trying to figure out just what the hell the chorus was just to sing along. As the song rounded off, Charice was ready to charge the stage and shake Doitsu-ki's arm like it was just an inflatable arm guy. That's when she saw it: a strange shadow over his eyes.

The song wasn't just for entertainment value.

**/=+=/**

She was able to get past the entire crowd to see Ludwig just as he was about to throw on his jacket and head over to soccer practice. He looked like he was leaving in a hurry…and after all that _**jazz**_, she wasn't surprised.

"So you remembered something!" She chirped. "Didn't you~?"

"…_I don't want to talk about it…"_

"Are you sure? Just give me a good synopsis or something!" Charice stated. "Let at least the majority of the burden off your shoulders and let me ponder over it for you!"

"_It's not a big deal, Charice…"_

"Explains the troubled look you had on your face earlier." She pointed out. "And I'm going to nag you on this for a while. Again, just a synopsis will suffice~!"

Ludwig started at the ground for a few minutes, mumbling something to himself in broken German, before turning his head to see the concerned look on Charice's face, masking the obvious phobia that she was fighting back. The fact that she was going against her phobic instincts to see if he was all right was definitely accounted for something. He sighed.

"…_I remembered something…"_

"You did?" Her eyes widened. "About your past?"

He weakly nodded. She quickly got part of the memo.

"There's a bit of regret in there, isn't it?"

"…_there was a girl…and there was a promise involved…I can't remember her face, her name, not even the promise that I made, but…"_ He held his head. _"Whatever it is, I…I broke it."_

"A…girl…?"

"…_I can't remember anything past that…nothing…"_

Before a few seconds could pass them, he quickly turned and dashed out of the room, leaving Charice in there to ponder what he had just told her. After a few minutes, she started scratching her head to ponder on the biggest revelation that he had given her.

_**GERMANY'S **__**STRAIGHT?**_

No, the other revelation.

_Oh. Right._

Ludwig was obviously remembering something, but something is blocking him from actually going ahead to remember it. Could it be because it's been such a long time that he can no longer reach that far in his brain? Is it something else? She held her head and…dare she say it…was it a Shadow's doing?

**/= [DAY 48] =/**

"Are you enjoying the manga that I gave you?"

"Of course I am, Kiku~!" Charice looked up. "It's not corrupted by clingy American fan girls yet, so it's rather interesting for the moment!"

The Japanese man laughed as he sat down next to her in the library, reading through the entire supply of manga that the school staff had actually remembered to stock for them. It was then that she saw the most shocking thing ever on the face of this planet.

"_Kiku! They made a VOCALOID manga?"_

"Of course. I am Japan, after all." He smiled. "If there is anything, there is a manga about it."

"Sweeeet." She started reading it. "I've heard a few Vocaloids. They're not that bad~!"

"We only choose the best voice actors and singers to represent our Vocaloids, after all." Kiku pointed out. "After that, the fans are free to do whatever they want."

"Hm…voice actors…"

"Yes. Vocaloids work like Auto-Tuning in a way, if that's the term. We just use a voicebank filled with a person's words, and then position and work with them to make them sing a song." Kiku answered. "Then there are the UTAUloids…and you should know what they are."

"Yes indeed. Fanmade Vocaloids made from whatever voicebank they can get their hands on-"

_***pause***_

"Please tell me that you're thinking what I think you're thinking."

"Depends on what you're thinking." Kiku answered with a smile.

"UTAUloids of everyone here." She grinned. "Blackmail to the highest degree."

"I've already made my copy." He stated. "But I'm more than willing to get the others to cooperate."

"_**Sweeeeeet…"**_

**/=+=/**

**UTAUloids of Hetalia characters…or "Hetaloids", as they are known. They are the best. YouTube them, cause THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.**

**Anyway, let the war between Kiku shippers and Li Xiao shippers commence~! Please don't try to abuse the anonymous system to multi-vote. Cause…well, then the reviews will go on forever, and then I'll be forced to ship her with Germany. Way to go.**

**Oh, speaking of which, I want your opinion on the next subplot. I might just totally ignore you guys in the end **_**(cause I SCREW THE RULES)**_**, but I just want an input. Here's the two of them:**

**[Holy Roman Empire]**

**[Soviet Union]**

**One of them ships GerIta. The other one ships GerRiz. Take your pick, and PLEASE DON'T KILL ME.**


	38. Everyone's Got a Kink

**How are those shippers handling themselves? Any casualties out there? OK then, we'll just ignore that for a while and keep going with the filler.**

**Oh, and uh…about the next subplot…yeah, remember that I'm not going with a vote system, instead I just wanted an opinion. Cause really, the subplot is nothing more than a fight between my inner GerIta and GerRiz, and seeing which pairing that you guys want. **_**(Though I might end up going with the less-voted system…)**_

**Explanations of each subplot will be at the end of the chapter. Again, I have the final say in this.**

**/= [DAY 49] =/**

"Hola, mi querida~!"

"Hoy, Antonio~!" She waved to him. "How're the tomatoes~?"

"They're growing well for Halloween, thank you for asking." He smiled. "Lovino thinks about you."

"…_**hah?**_ He does?"

"Well, he mumbles your name under his breath…but for all I know, he's cursing you out in Italian~!"

"So he curses me in Italian? _**Suh-weeet!"**_ She chirped. "I've always wanted to be cursed at in Italian! _**It sounds sexy~!"**_

"**WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING THERE, ASSHOLE?"**

"Eh?" She looked up. "Hey, Lovi-chan~!"

"_It's…Lovino…"_ He growled.

"Sure it is…Lovi-chan!"

"_**It's LOVINO!"**_

**/= [DAY 50] =/**

"Charice, do we have a Halloween performance?"

"Yes, we do~!" She chirped, standing in the Glee Club room as the others filed in. "We all agreed on the song Valerie, so we're going to do that."

"Who's the soloist?" Etana folded her arms and plopped in the chair.

"We all agreed that Charice is going to do it." Alfred answered, pointing at her. "She planned out the entire show as well."

"You…serious?" Etana blinked.

"Yeah~! And we all agreed that we're all cross-dressing!"

"_**NO WE DIDN'T ASSHOLE!"**_

"Ve…this sounds fun, fratello…"

"_**NO IT DOESN'T!"**_

"I have a question." Ivan lifted up his hand. "What are we cross-dressing into again? Did we agree on 1920's flappers?"

"I tried to think about it…and then I tried imagining Gilbert in a flapper dress and almost gouged my eyes out." Charice laughed. "So I'm taking a poll on what we can use."

"How about nothing at all? That'll work." Lovino spat.

"We're going in naked~?" Antonio laughed _(where the hell did he come from?)_. "That seems fun!"

"**LET'S GO NAKED!"** Alfred chirped.

"_**NO WE WILL NOT!"**_ Arthur screamed.

"Well, can't we just go with a Halloween theme?" Vash spat out. "It is Halloween…"

"We're going unique in this concert…for Halloween is like cosplaying without the conventions~!" Charice pointed at the sky. "We need a theme~!"

"_**POWER RANGERS!"**_

"We're not doing that!" Yao stated. "I'm. Not. Wearing. Spandex."

"_Aw…"_ Elizabeta pouted. _"So much for that…"_

"How about Vocaloid?" Kiku asked calmly. "Miku Hatsune is a very popular singer."

"…maybe…" Charice turned her head. "If only Vash gets to be Rin."

"Done~"

"_**No."**_ Vash spat.

"Well, it's either that or we force Erika to wear short shorts."

"…fine." He spat again.

"Sweeeet." Charice started writing this down. "I'll go as Akaito…since I can. Anyone else claiming anything?"

"_**I. AM. NOT. CROSSDRESSING."**_ Lovino spat.

"…he's going to be Lily…"

"_**SHUT UP, YOU ASSHOLE!"**_

"Too bad. You are." She looked at the list. "Let's make Feliciano Meiko…"

"Hm…that'll work…" Kiku nodded. "Arthur could be Luka."

"Yes, yes…OH! Yao gets to be Sonika!"

"_**WHAT, ARU?"**_

"Too bad. You are."

And the shipping goes on.

**/= [DAY 51] =/**

Li Xiao was mumbling something to himself as Charice walked through the hallways to head over to the photography class. He looked up and saw her, his mouth quickly shutting itself.

"What'cha doin~?" She asked.

"I'm learning Italian." He answered. "I've been working on my English for so long that I didn't even think about learning anything else."

"I'm pretty good with Italian. I've been hanging out with Feli-chan for so long that I've learned quite a few terms!" She chirped. "I can help you, if you want."

"Oh. Thanks." Was all he could say. "Um…grazie."

"_**Grazie, grazie~!"**_ She chirped again. "You're going to have a lot of fun learning, Xiao-kun~!"

"…that's good." He stated. "Hey, how's that Glee Club?"

"We're planning out our first live performance~!" She pointed out. "Cross-dressing, of course~!"

"Interesting…" Li Xiao blinked. "Um…is…Ludwig a part of the Glee Club?"

"I…don't know. He's kinda like an on-again, off-again kinda guy." She folded her arms. "He might be part of the club during the performance."

Li Xiao shivered. The last thing he needed was Ludwig in a dress…or a skirt…or whatever. Maybe she'll let him do drag or something…pray to god that she does…

"Oh, speaking of which…don't you have a German-phobia?" He asked. "I've heard about it from other people, but…"

"It's really no big deal. I've gotten over the majority of it. Besides…Ludwig's a _tsundere..."_

"Dare I ask what that means to you, aru?"

"Well, it makes shipping easier, but-" She paused. "Did you just say aru?"

"Oh, did I? Crap." He sighed. "Old Chinese habit. Ever since I learned English, I've been trying to get over it, but…yeah…"

"Well, you've been doing great up until that point…so hats off to you." She chirped. "But heck, don't let go of those Chinese roots~!"

"I won't…but that's one that I'm willing to let go of." He grinned. "For I am also the representation of Westernization in the Asian country."

"I guess…but nice little tics in the speaking makes it all the cuter~!" She winked. "For example, Feli-chan and his adowable 've' tic~"

"Really now…?" Li Xiao tilted his head.

"Whatever makes you…makes you~!" She pointed out. "But if you're letting go of 'aru', that better mean that you're going to be cooking Chinese food more often."

"I will."

"Sweet~! Have fun with that, Xiao-kun~!"

She chirped and headed back to her class, leaving Li Xiao to realize that she was calling him by a nickname. He walked away quite flustered.

**/=+=/**

"Now…apparently we have to take a picture of something that we like…" She looked around. "Whatever the hell that means."

Charice started walking through the school's forest, wondering just where the hell she could find something that she _**hadn't**_ taken pictures of yet. Seriously, she took a picture of every single cute guy in the school…and if Roderich ever finds out that picture that she took of him, he would so kill her with his Austrian gay-vampire sparkle.

After a few minutes, she noticed that she had no idea where she was. She continued down a pathway that brought her to a small clearing of the forest…and what looked like Arthur with wings on his back…angel wings?

"_**Whoa."**_

"Eh?" He looked up. "H-hey!"

He covered himself as if she had just walked into him being naked or something, startling her. After a few minutes, she came out waving her hands.

"Hey hey hey! It's just me! Relax!" She stated.

"D-don't do that!" He spat, trying to hide his exposed wings. "Announce yourself next time!"

"And what? Miss this awesomeness that's on your back?" She stared at them. "Are they real, or what?"

"…yes, they're real." He started moving them. "I can fly, and all that whatever you want to state."

"…WOOOOOOW…" She chuckled. "And still such a _tsundere."_

"_D-don't say things like that, bloody git…"_ He mumbled.

"Still…" She rubbed the feathers. "Don't bring 'em out much?"

"N-no…" He was blushing. "They're…sensitive…"

"What, like the Italian curls?"

He said nothing, flapping his wings every time she touched them. After a few minutes, she tackle glomped him to the ground, forgetting about the photography project.

**/=+=/**

**[Holy Roman Empire]**

**GerIta is the main pairing.**

**Russia and Belarus give up their chance of being main characters.**

**Russia is now available for pairing.**

**The [Rizal] subplot will get emotional on you guys.**

**The [Soviet Union] subplot can be achieved through a Social Link Event.**

**[Soviet Union]**

**RuBela is the main pairing.**

**Germany and North Italy give up their chance of being main characters.**

**Germany is now available for pairing **_**(can you say GerRiz?)**_

**The [Rizal] subplot won't be as emotional, but a bromance will go on.**

**The [Holy Roman Empire] subplot probably won't be achieved **_**(especially for the GerRiz shippers)**_**.**

**Again, here we go. State your opinion, but it's up to me to figure it out. Cause really, it's GerIta versus GerRiz.**


	39. Of Rehearsals and Shrinks

**And the shipping wars continue. Please don't kill me.**

**/= [DAY 52] =/**

Rehearsals were weird today. First of all, it was the scene where Roderich had to carry Alfred around the stage before confronting Ludwig. Second of all…Roderich can't carry for shit. Thirdly…well…it's RODERICH. What else can you say about it?

So when Charice walked in for the day to see Roderich trying his best to carry an American over his shoulders, she could _**not**_ help but drop to her feet laughing like a maniac. From the corner of her eye, she could see Rizal laugh as well. Maybe it's because he apparently never liked Roderich _(as much as he would like the others)_.

"This is entertaining, isn't it?"

"It really is." He responded with a chuckle. "Oh, speaking of which, how's that Glee Club?"

"It's been going out great. We're going to have our first performance on Halloween before we open up the haunted house."

"…haunted…house?"

"Oh, you didn't hear? Apparently the clubs are going to turn the whole school into a haunted house." She chuckled. "No one's telling each other what we're doing, so…"

"Let me guess, you just found out today and you have nothing planned."

"Shut up, kuya."

"Pfft." Rizal shook his head, trying hard not to laugh. "Oh, speaking of which…you've been hanging out with a lot of other nations, haven't you?"

"Yeah, actually. What, haven't you?"

"I have…though I have to ask…how can you handle the majority of them?"

"Easy, really. All you have to do is threaten them at least once or twice with sharpened chopsticks or take the photography class and blackmail them~"

"…_do you really do that?"_

"Only to a few of them. The other ones are tolerable." She tilted her head. "People messing up with your brain?"

"_Just one or two."_ He answered, his voice oddly quiet. _"Hey, uh…what do you think about Ludwig?"_

"The tall, blond guy?" She folded her arms.

"I mean…he is German, and I know how much you're scared of Germans, so…"

"He's a little scary, yes…but he's a tsundere~" She answered. "Which instantly activates Cute-Obsession Mode, which in fact overrides German-phobia~!"

"Interesting…" Rizal's eyes widened. "I never thought that was possible."

"Well, it just is." She chuckled. "You might like him~"

"W-why would you say that?" He asked, blushing.

"Well, he's really serious and doesn't seem to hold any type of kink…you two can at least go run off somewhere and no one would be the wiser."

Charice intended it to be a joke, so when Francis called her up she left her brother laughing her head off. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to catch the fact that Rizal turned away with a huge blush covering his face. If she did, she would've remarked on it at least once.

**/= [DAY 53] =/**

"Hey, Charice!"

"Eh?" She turned her head. "Oh, it's you. What does King Awesome want with me?"

"I wanted to tell you what Vocaloid I'm being in the performance." He pointed at himself. "I'm going to be Haku Yowane!"

"Sweet. Wearing a skanky uniform really does do wonders on ya."

"Yes indeed!"

_And yet he doesn't argue about this. What the hell is wrong with him…?_

She stared at him for a few minutes before realizing that he wasn't making a move to leave. She figured that he was going to ditch the moment he got this out of the way _(which, of course, makes him Gilbert)_, but for some reason he wasn't leaving. That would only mean one thing…

"You want to tell me something?"

"No, no no!" He laughed it off. "Nothing here! Nope! I'm as happy as a man on crack!"

"…which means you're going to be miserable about a day later." She sat down on the bench. "You might as well tell me now."

"…really, I'm fine!"

"I've seen the real you, man. You might as well tell me while no one else is here."

Gilbert mumbled some choice words before remembering what exactly she meant by that. He sighed and figured that she might as well: she'd already seen the deepest part of his emotions. It's natural for her to question what she couldn't understand.

"Tell anyone that I told you this, and I will make you regret this."

"Sure enough." She answered. "I may be pushy, but I can keep secrets. I have my brother to agree with that."

"Great…" He sighed. "So what _**exactly**_ did you see back there…?"

"Well, your childhood…which was happy enough, so I won't remark on that…" She folded her legs. "And then I saw post-WWII."

He cringed.

"The, uh…part where Ludwig died." She fidgeted. "You were extremely emotional…and Alfred was never really told about it."

"He hasn't? Geez, I thought that Brit would be unawesome and brag about it."

"No. Apparently, he wanted to put all the blame on himself. Remember how he even covered for Francis?"

"I thought there was something weird about that…" He stated. "If I know anything about Arthur, it's that he hates that Frenchman."

"He worried the most about Alfred. He was still a young nation who didn't know that we could die like this." She explained. "Apparently, he wanted to keep him like that. And he would've gotten away with it too."

"Geez, if only he was that sympathetic to me when he took away my kingdom." Gilbert spat. "And then took away my brother…him and Alfred both."

"Well, is that grudge still there…? I mean, Ludwig's still alive and I think he forgave them…"

"Can't lie and say it's not. But hell, I remember the past. Alfred was the guy that actually brought the majority of that to an end." He stated. "If he really did know, I wonder if he would even bother with us."

"I would assume he would. I was a colony under his rule for a while, and he said that he really liked my relationship with my brother." She pointed upward. "He must've sympathized with you when you weren't allowed to see your brother. He even told me that he would act the same way if that exact moment happened with Matthew."

"Is that so?"

"Alfred's a little bit of everything, you know. Part Italian, part English, part French, and yes, part German. Whatever people enter his land, becomes him~" She nodded. "I guess it was inevitable that he would decide to reverse the separation statement, Soviet Union or not."

"Is that what you really believe?"

"Well, for lack of a better word, Alfred's a child. He has a past, yes, but hell. If you compare his to yours, it'll just make him an angsty teenager." She laughed. "Though I guess it's because he was separate from the European continent that saved his ass."

"…you have a brother too, right?"

"Course I do. Rizal Pacquiao, I think you know him."

"The man who always has something to say. Of course I know him." Gilbert leaned back. "Have you two ever been separated?"

"Multiple times, actually. All those wars that we've been through, he's been fighting them. He knows that I have a huge phobia of blood, and after a small German invasion, I have a phobia of them too." She said. "I guess I can understand: we were a colony in the Asian continent. Who wouldn't want a place there?"

"Whoa. Mein bruder invaded you? Damn, I didn't think he'd go that far. He was too busy handling himself in Europe!"

"Well, apparently he did try. Just once. Rizal drove him away just like he drove off the Russians, the Spanish, half the American forces…" She sighed. "Come to think of it, what country _**hasn't**_ tried invading us?"

"And yet there's no anger?"

"Oddly enough, no. I think I had it once, but then I just don't." She rubbed her cheek. "Even if I try to think of something, I just can't get angry at them. I guess it's because I've never seen bloodshed before."

"Guess that makes your brother even more terrifying."

"Not really. He seems to handle everyone pretty OK."

"So does Ivan, and look what he does!"

"…he's creepy, yes…but more like a best friend creepy. Like he could just crawl out of nowhere and say-"

"Hi there. Can I join you?"

…

"_**HOLY FREAKIN' SHIT FUCK!"**_

**/=+=/**

Speaking of the Glee Club, Halloween was just a day away, and oddly enough everyone was supportive _(despite the fact that it was a dress rehearsal)_. Charice loved the Akaito outfit that she was able to find online, but for some reason the scarf wouldn't stay on right.

_Maybe if I tie it…_

…

_OK. Now I can't reach back there._

"What the heck are you doing?"

She turned her head and saw Li Xiao standing there with a stack of papers in his hand and a rather blank look on his face. He would be shocked, I mean, if she knew anything about him. And she really didn't. Maybe he takes Botox to keep that blank look all the time.

"Glee Club rehearsal. We're performing for the Halloween opening show!" She chirped.

"Interesting…and apparently you're starting off by strangling yourself with a scarf?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to tie it so that it stays around my neck!"

"…so you're strangling yourself."

"_**Don't start with me!"**_

"I'm not, I'm not." He placed the papers down. "Here, at least let me loosen that knot before you cut air circulation."

He walked up to her and started with the knot, making her pause. Maybe it's an Asian thing, but he really had smooth skin on his fingers _(so did Kiku and Rizal and basically every Asian country she knew…huh, must be an Asian thing)_. She actually didn't mind trying to figure out what he was doing, holding the knot in case he accidentally grazes her again.

"Geez, what the hell did you do to this thing…?" He grunted. "The knot's as tight as Gilbert's ego."

"For lack of better word, yes it is. And really, it's just a knot! How tight can it be?"

"Extremely." He answered. "Unless _**you**_ want to try this."

"I already have…and it's really not working."

"Then let me try it."

They turned their heads to see Kiku walk toward them, fully dressed in his Miku outfit _(it was supposed to be Yao's, but because Charice still thinks he's a female, he's Gakupo)_. He quietly shooed him out of the way before handling the knot. It took just as much time as Li Xiao, but he was able to take it apart.

"There you go."

"Thanks, Kiku-ki." She chirped. "Can you help me knot this so that I can take this apart later?"

"Of course. Just give me a minute…"

He did it in under a few seconds, leaving Charice with a grin on her face, a chirp out of her lips, and watching her skip her way into the auditorium. If she bothered to turn around, she would've seen Li Xiao and Kiku throw each other a few death glares.

**/=+=/**

**And the Halloween Arc is next chapter, so don't miss out!**


	40. This is Halloween, This is Halloween

**And it's now the Halloween Arc! Who's ready for this?**

**/= [DAY 54] =/**

Apparently, she wasn't aware of the fact that the clubs were competing against each other for the scariest section of the building, and that they're going to be judged by people who have been chosen to participate. Charice was one of the few nations chosen to be the "testers" for the haunted college building competition thing that apparently was going on _(they said "house"…but it's a building)_, so she was banned from entering the school until the Glee Club performance at six.

_Way to go._ She sighed. _Don't they even know that I apparently inherited Alfred's ability to handle this type of stuff?_

Whatever. It was too late now. She was going to have to _**deal**_. Nonetheless, it'll give her a good excuse to wander the rest of the campus that she's never seen before. Apparently, there was a rumor that they were right next to the beach or something _(in New York? What the hell?)_.

So that morning, she did in fact sleep in, and then quickly got into her usual red attire and headed out for a hike. She didn't bump into Ludwig, so she assumed that he was either going for a morning run elsewhere or he was in the competition too. God forbid what he was making up scares at least five thousand years out of her. She'd like to live to see 2048, you know.

As she hiked along the pathway, her mind began to wander. It drifted over the past, and everything that happened over the last month and a half.

_**["When a nation is not allowed to reincarnate, the whole nation goes into a panic. In other words, if one part of the section is down, the whole nation cannot exist."]**_

The underlining principle of this entire ordeal. Those words that Wang Yao had told her and her brother that day…the things that made her know that whatever happened was going to be something she cannot abandon.

_**["…when nations die prematurely, they leave behind a sign…something to call the others to bring them full circle in the reincarnation process."]**_

She couldn't help but smile. Li Xiao was the expert when it came to this. He and Carlos had done this before, of course. _Carlos…_

_**["Wow, I mistook you yet again! Sorry, dude!"]**_

_**["My full name is Carlos Machado, and I'm the Republic of Cuba!"]**_

_**["Ahahaha! I think she takes a fancy to you, Matthew!"]**_

She missed him, even if they only talked once. He was the one that really started her journey…through everyone's worlds.

_**["Here, no one mocks me. Here, no one continues to ask who I am anymore. Here…I belong."]**_

_**["He had been forced out because them…the pain that he has kept hidden even to the mirror…is because of all those who wish to exploit him. He will be safe here…away from all of you."]**_

_**["…well, the truth is, you're just a mix of nations…a little of this, a little of that, a mix of a few people here and there…The truth is, you have no identity."]**_

_**["I am loyal only to me…and no one else."]**_

_**["Let's face it…I'm better off dead."]**_

_**["The ones with the biggest smiles hold the most scars, you know."]**_

_**["What I do is on my own terms…for I am an avenger and hence I can do whatever I want!"]**_

The worlds were messed up, now that she thought about it. Burnt flags, dying national flowers, mermaids looking like your friends that tackle-glomp / rape you to the point of mutation, freakin' **PIRATES**, battling a boss on her own, running around Madrid(?) like a nutcase, handling an emo bastard…

_Makes you wonder just how insane the other nations are…_

After a few minutes, she realized that she had wandered so far that she was at the beachside. She blinked for a few minutes and realized that she was totally lost. She was about to panic when she saw a familiar face sitting at the side, staring at the ocean with a dead look on his face. It scared her just a little.

"Feli-chan! _**Feli-chan!"**_

He looked up quite confused, allowing her to skip toward him with a grin that actually brought a grin to his face as well. She plopped right next to him with a chirp, causing the fear in Feliciano's face to fade away.

"I guess you've been chosen to be a tester like me, huh?"

"Ve…actually, I was supposed to be at the school…but I told them that I had to go to the bathroom…"

"Couldn't handle the crazy school?"

"_Ve…"_

"Hah? Oh my god, someone threatened you, didn't they?" She grabbed his shoulders. _**"Who tortured you? Who messed with you? Tell me, and I **__**will**__** beat his brain out!"**_

"VEE~! No, no no no! It's not like that!"

"Are you sure…? Don't you be lying to me!"

"_Ve…"_

"You're shaking, Feli-chan…"

"…it's nothing, really…"

"_**OH MY GOD SOMEONE RAPED YOU!"**_

"VE~~~! No, no no!"

"No…? OK, that's good…" She sighed. "Here I thought it was something that was physically _**traumatizing**_…"

"…_ve…"_

"Oh my god, it's still traumatizing…" Charice held Feliciano's hand. "What happened, Feli-chan?"

"_I-it's no big deal…"_

"But you stopped smiling…" She stated. "It must be big. Tell me, please."

Feliciano mumbled something to himself, obviously reliving the poor thing and making Charice extremely uncomfortable. She was just about to retract her statement and talk about the many wonders of a simple pasta bowl when she felt his hand squeeze hers.

"_I-I've…I've been having nightmares…"_

"Nightmares?" She leaned in closer. "They're just dreams, Feli-chan. Nothing in there is real."

"…but…in it…everyone is dead."

Now THIS was a problem. Even for a nightmare.

"They're all dead around me…I keep begging for them to wake up, but…they don't move…they're just…_they're just…"_

He started shaking, and Charice knew she had gone too far. She quickly hugged him tight and cuddled him as close as possible, hearing the quiet sobs of the Italian boy beneath her fingertips. She quickly rubbed his back: it worked for Rizal when he was a child, maybe it'll calm him as well…

"_I'm sorry, Feliciano…"_

"_It's OK…you didn't know…"_

"_Yeah…I guess having a nightmare of everyone dying in front of you really is traumatizing…"_ She stated. _"I mean, I guess I was just blessed without seeing something like that before."_ That was permanent, of course.

"…_and I really hope you never do."_

She chuckled softly to herself. Despite the fact that it never really lasted past a day, she had seen death before. She was in the vicinity of one once, but that was a day when Rizal told her never to turn around…the first day she heard a gunshot up close before, and the day Rizal adapted his human name…

"Hey, let's not go too deep into stuff like this." She laughed. "Don't you have a Halloween thing to do?"

"Ve~~! T-that's right!" He stood up. "Doitsu will be mad if I stay away for long."

"Sorry that I can't come with…I'm one of the 'testers', you see."

"Ve…well, I hope we win."

"I'll be the judge of that."

**/=+=/**

_But for the most part, I might as well be scared to death over the moment called BOREDOM…_

She sighed as she left the beach and headed toward the lake nearby _(yes…apparently there's a lake and an Oceanside at this place…and they're going to make this a PUBLIC college)_, wondering if she could catch fish there. Not surprisingly…she can't.

_Maybe all the female fish swam away from all the hot bishounen._ Hey, it was a possibility.

"Eh? What are you doing here?"

She looked up and saw that there was a girl wearing a pink uniform and a nice little pin in her hair. She instantly knew her as Taiwan. Wang Yao seemed to like talking to her a lot. She tilted her head.

"I'm a 'tester' of the competition. You?"

"So am I. I'm trying to find all of them." She answered. "I don't know how many of them there are in all."

"Well, I thought people were just mean and wanted me to suffer." Charice sighed. "Oh, by the way, I'm Charice."

"Yeah, I know you. Kiku loved talking about you."

"…interesting…" She blinked. "You're Húdié Mei, aren't you?"

"Eh? Why are you calling me a butterfly plum blossom?"

"…that's…not your name?" Charice blinked. "Everyone calls you that."

"It's a nickname, not my actual name." She answered. "Geez, I always told them to at least call me by my real human name when people don't know me."

"…I'm sorry, I didn't think I needed to ask?" Charice blinked. "And you are…?"

"Lin Yi Ling. The Republic of Taiwan."

"…why do Chinese people have prettier names than I do…?"

"Y-you think my name is pretty?"

"Compared to mine? Think about it!" She answered. "No, seriously! Think about it!"

"…I think your name is pretty."

"Really? Uh…true, I guess. It sounds English."

"Well, every name sounds pretty if you say it right." She laughed. "Even the German names. Especially when you whisper it."

Nevermind the fact that she ships men with other men. Whispering bishounen are the hottest things around. No questions asked. After a few minutes, they found themselves talking to each other about a few things. It turns out that she was a good friend of Japan as well. He had helped her declare her independence from China, and as such they were like best friends.

"I've wondered, though…seeing as how men and women usually don't stay friends for long in terms of us, has he ever hit on you?"

"Who, Kiku hit on me? No." Lin Yi laughed. "Personally, I always thought he would be hitting on Heracles!"

_Heracles…Heracles…_ "You mean…GREECE?"

"Yeah, that's him. Why?"

"…you ship Yaoi?"

"Of course I do! Who doesn't?"

"…we should totally be best friends." Charice laughed. "I ship Yaoi too!"

"Really? The only one besides you that I know of is Elizabeta, but it's pretty obvious!"

"_**RIIIGHHT?"**_ Charice laughed. "Oh, and Alfred and Arthur dating? So my doing."

"Really? That's so cool! Tell me, tell me!"

And yes, Charice had to lie through her teeth on this one. Cause really, Lin Yi won't buy the fact that all it took for them to hook up was a crazed up pirate sailing the seven seas and almost killing them. After a few minutes of plain talking, she felt a card in her hand that had the image of a priestess on it. She looked up from behind Lin Yi and saw a woman in a red robe and had strange things in her hair.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_Lin Yi Ling…interesting…_

**["AS THE PRIESTESS WHO MEDIATED BETWEEN THE GODS, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

The card and Persona sank into her body just as something was coming up from behind them. She turned her head to see that Lovino was approaching them, mumbling to himself as another figure appeared behind him. But she wasn't paying attention, for Charice had instantly tackle-glomped Lovino the minute she saw him.

"Lovi-chaaaaaaaan~"

"_**It's Lovino!"**_ He spat, oddly enough not struggling. "Can't you get it right?"

"But Lovi-chan sounds cuter…"

"_**I DON'T WANT TO BE CUTE!"**_

"Too bad! You are! Oh, and by the way…how's that costume of yours?"

"_**GOD DAMMIT, ARGGGGHHH!"**_

"I guess the both of you are testers, huh?" Lin Yi asked.

"_I'm a little scared about it, but yes we are…"_

"Eh?" She looked up. "Maple-chan~! You're a tester too!"

"_Y-yeah…I heard there were seven in all."_ He answered. _"There's four of us…so we'll wait for the other three here. That's what I told them to do."_

"Seven in total…I wonder who they are?" Charice tilted her head.

"_**Daaaaaaaa ZE!"**_

Oh sh-

"_**YONG SOO, GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"**_

Charice quickly jumped out of the way as Yong Soo landed face first in the dirt. He was about to go for round two when someone grabbed his collar and shot him a death glare. Oddly enough, it was Li Xiao. He looked up, saw her, and instantly grinned.

"You're forced to do this too, huh?"

"Basically. But hell, gives me a few hours of doing absolutely nothing!"

"Except beating up a Korean?"

"A Korean who's my best friend, but yes." She pointed out.

"Waaaaaaaiiiiiiit a minute." Lovino blinked. _**"You two are best friends? YOU TWO BARELY HANG OUT HERE!"**_

"We don't need time together to be close friends, da ze!" Yong Soo dropped an arm around her. "She's the one who taught me English! For _**free!**_ And it works, da ze!"

"Of course I did. In exchange, I get to sample all his food!" Charice turned her head. "But that still doesn't mean that you can touch my boobs."

"_Awwwwwww."_

"Oh, is this where we're meeting? The testers?"

They looked up from their position to see a woman walking toward them. She was wearing a school uniform but had a veil around her head and a red dot on her forehead. Charice couldn't help but notice that she wasn't wearing the required shoes for the uniform, but was wearing something that reminded her of the desert for some reason.

"Yeah, that's us da ze." Yong Soo chirped. "I haven't seen you around! What's your name?"

"This is Addidy." Li Xiao answered. "We were both colonies of England once, so we know each other well."

"Nice to see that nothing has changed, Li Xiao." She answered. "How much longer until we have to return to the school?"

"Well, I wanna say a few more hours…but me, Maple-chan and Lovi-chan here have an opening performance to do~!"

"_**Which I am doing against my will…"**_

"You're just mad because Antonio's going to be there."

"_**THAT'S MY POINT!"**_

"Oh, you're part of the Glee Club!" Addidy remarked. "I was considering joining, but I'm more of a dancer than a singer."

"That's fine. If you can play an instrument, I'm sure Roderich will take you in."

"I can play a good pungi."

"That'll work!" _Whatever that is._

"So I guess that's all of us." Lin Yi said. "We still have a few hours until the three of you have to go get ready for your performance, so…what should we do?"

"I say we replace the veggie dip that's in the dorm lounge with wasabi."

"_**SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!"**_

**/=+=/**

**Kikuri-Hime**** is a dragon goddess worshiped at Mt. Hakusan and is considered the Shinto goddess of negotiation and mediation. She is well known for being the one who mediated on behalf of Izanami so that she and her husband Izanagi could exchange in a debate, her actions later establishing the duty of later Miko when communicating with Yomi. Oddly enough, her symbolic flower **_**(which is basically lamentation of death)**_** is the chrysanthemum. The Japanese word for that flower? Kiku. [Lin Yi Ling - Priestess]**

"**Addidy" is the personification of India. I have a best friend named Addidy and she was Indian, so I figured that I might as well have this nation make an appearance. It was either this or Thailand, and I have way too many Asian nations. Oh yeah, a ****pungi**** is the instrument snake charmers use.**

**So…next chapter~!**


	41. Each and Every Room Is Crazy

**So here's the next chapter of the Halloween saga~! Last time, Charice and her six members of "testers" have learned that they were going to enter the school and rate how scary each club's section are. The winners…well, like we know. Hopefully, Charice would still be alive at that time.**

**Oh, by the way, if you want a nice visualization of the concert, YouTube "Valerie" by the Glee kids, not Amy Winehouse. It's more chorus oriented, anyway.**

**/= [DAY 54] =/**

The concert went surprisingly well, despite the fact that many of the guys had to wear bras for outfits. The stage crew was quick with the scene changes, which was great, since the only thing they had to move were the really huge staircases that apparently the chorus was climbing on. Though no one wanted to say it…but they enjoyed it. Poor Rizal was traumatized for life, though. And no, Ludwig wasn't on the stage.

The three testers walked out with a chuckle to see their other four members standing outside the backstage door in their costumes. Lin Yi looked pretty in her Mulan robes, Addidy was dressed as a fairy, and Li Xiao…well, he's dressed like a butler out of an anime. That's already winning points here.

"So I guess we'll have to leave again until the school's ready to start testing?" Addidy asked.

"Mooooost likely." Charice grinned. "But that's fine. I got another costume planned for today. For one night only, I. Am. _**Card Captor Sakura."**_

"Oh god, really." Lovino sighed.

"Well, it's either that or I keep you in that uniform-"

"_**Not a chance in hell.**_ I'm changing and I'm not wearing a costume."

"Awwww…why not, da ze?" Yong Soo chirped, adjusting his Bob the Builder uniform _(don't ask questions)_.

"Because this is stupid. Why the hell do we have to be in stupid costumes to get candy?"

"Because we're suckers like that~" Charice chirped. "Oooh! How about I turn you into Light Yagami? There's no costume there, and you can go about bragging on how you can write a guy's name in a notebook and kill them!"

"…_that sounds fun…"_ Lovino grinned.

"O…kay…" Lin Yi blinked. "Oh, Matthew. What are you going to be?"

"_Me? Um…Jounouchi."_

"From Yu-gi-oh? Hell, pull off the Brookyn Accent and you're in!" Charice chirped.

"_Why? We have better things to do…like playing children's card games."_

"You are soooooo Jounouchi." She skipped toward the door. "Let's head over to the lounge and change~! Lovi-chan, come on~"

"Eh? What the _**HEY WHAT THE HELL LET ME GO LET ME GO LET ME GOOOOOO!"**_

**/=+=/**

It took a while, but soon the call came for the testers to come in and take their judging standards. The seven of them sighed and headed over to the school, which was now oddly quiet and dark. Apparently, someone decided to leave all the lights out…for "more effect".

"_Great…now we're going to be judging stuff on scariness only to be scared of the fact that we tripped over the stairs a few times…"_ Matthew mumbled.

"So…which place are we starting off with?" Lin Yi asked.

"I think we start with the gym." Li Xiao answered. "That way."

"All right…"

Charice looked up and led the way toward the gymnasium. Because it was so freakin' _**dark**_, it took forever to find the damn place. Nonetheless, they found it. Addidy was the one who opened the door, and found it to be dressed like a mummy's tomb.

"_OK…this isn't scary."_ Lovino mumbled. _"Can we leave?"_

"Look! There's something there!" Lin Yi pointed at something in the middle of the room.

Charice and Li Xiao looked at each other, waved at the others to stay there, and then jumped like ninjas to find out what was in the middle. After a few minutes, they saw that it was a small rolled-up piece of paper on top of a pestle. Li Xiao lifted it up and unrolled it.

"…it's a map of the school."

"That's anticlimactic." Charice sighed and turned toward the others. "It's just a map! Nothing big! You can walk over here!"

They all walked over before Matthew's ears peaked. Yong Soo turned to him before realizing that one of the coffins was moving. Soon, all the coffins were moving and mummies were crawling toward them, moaning and roaring all the way.

"_**Holy crap!"**_ Charice screamed. _**"Mummies!"**_

"Whoa." Addidy blinked. "Not bad."

"_**Holy shit THEY'RE RUNNING!"**_ Yong Soo screamed.

"**MUMMIES CAN'T RUN!"** Lin Yi panicked.

"Well, _**we can!"**_ Charice screamed. _**"I'm outta here!"**_

They turned and ran the hell out of the room. Well, not really. Charice and Matthew were being grabbed by their ankles and arms by running mummies on the way out and were too busy flailing out of the room to realize that they can just punch them away.

"…_that's…scary."_ Charice mumbled.

"Just a little…" Lin Yi added.

"T-they weren't that scary." Lovino spat.

"Says the first guy flailing out of the room."

"_**Shut up, Li Xiao."**_

"So what's the map about?" Addidy asked.

"It's our pathway. Apparently we have to judge them in order." Li Xiao answered. "Sucks, but at least they can get themselves ready."

"_If that's true…then where's the first place to go?"_ Matthew asked.

"It's this way."

"Hopefully, it's worth our time."

"Hopefully, I get to see you scream out of the room like a wuss da ze."

**/=+=/**

The first couple of rooms that they went too weren't that scary, really. It was nothing more than the typical pop-out scare tactics and crawling spiders. Heck, it wasn't even scaring Lovino _(and that's saying a lot)_. Charice and Lin Yi wanted to call it a day when they entered the next room.

"That's strange…it's empty." Addidy blinked.

"_M-maybe we're in the wrong room?"_ Matthew asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure that it's the place…" Li Xiao looked at the map. "North Wing, Room 198. It's right here."

Charice looked around before realizing that the room was getting colder and colder. She started shaking, and instantly Li Xiao pulled off his butler jacket and threw it over her shoulders _(causing Lin Yi and Yong Soo to chuckle)_. After a while, Lovino sighed.

"There's nothing here. Let's just fucking leave."

"_Um…Lovino? We can't."_ Matthew answered. _"The door's sealed."_

"_**WHAT?"**_

The two of them were trying to pry the door open as the others were wondering just what was going on. After a few minutes, they heard a familiar _**'kolkolkol'**_ echo through the walls and the sound of footsteps walking closer and closer toward them.

…

"_**NOOOOOOOOO I DON'T WANT TO BE ONE WITH RUSSIA!"**_

"_**OPEN THE DOOR OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE GET US OUT GET US OUT GET US OUUUUUUTTTTTT!"**_

**/=+=/**

The door was able to pry itself open and the seven of them ran screaming from the room, allowing them to take their breath after a few minutes of just dashing. Li Xiao was the first person who had straightened himself, fixing his gloves and taking the jacket from Charice's back.

"Are you OK?" He asked.

"Yeah…I'm…fine." She sighed. "That was scary…"

"I know…stuck in a room with Ivan is scary…" Addidy added. "How many more rooms do we have?"

"We have a few more…I think the next one is just a few numbers away." Li Xiao pointed at the end of the hallway. "Over there, I think."

"OK…" Charice straightened herself. "I'm leading the way."

"_OK…I'll make sure that you don't get hurt."_

"Thanks, Matthew."

The seven of them walked through the hallway before finding the next room. Charice quickly realized that it was the newspaper office as Li Xiao opened the door. She jumped in and took a look around, seeing as there was only one light and shadows all around them. As Charice walked into the room, she saw that the light was illuminating a body that was placed on a table that was decorated with pretty flowers. The body had a daisy in his hands.

And it was Feliciano.

She blinked for a few minutes, trying to remind herself that she wasn't seeing a murder, and then looked over to see that the Italian really seemed to know how to play a dead guy. His chest wasn't even moving that quickly, but she could clearly hear a faint breath going in and out.

"_C-Charice?"_ Matthew stepped inside. _"A-are you OK?"_

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…I haven't seen Feli-chan so peaceful, you know?" She chuckled.

Charice smiled as she brushed a strand of hair from his face. Suddenly, his eyes flashed open and darted toward her, startling her just a little bit. She jumped back, only to see that he had grabbed her wrist and kept her in place. That was a little creepy, but nothing to…

"_**Holy crap HE'S BITING MY HAND HE'S BITING MY HAND!"**_

"_W-what?"_ Matthew looked around. _"A-ah! Something's coming out of the shadows!"_

"What? _**HOLY SHIT SOMETHING GRABBED MY LEG!"**_

The two of them ran screaming out of the room.

**/=+=/**

After those two rooms, nothing else could scare them. The winner ended up being Ivan's room, though Charice threw her vote on the newspaper club because _**someone bit her freakin' wrist.**_ Nonetheless, Feliciano was rapidly apologizing about it, everything that she had dismissed.

"Veee! I didn't hurt you too much, did I?"

"Nah. You did more of startling my ego than my body." She answered. "See? No blood!"

"Still, would you like a bandage for that?" Kiku lifted up a roll of tape. "In case it gets worse?"

"Sure, why not?" Charice laughed.

As he was wrapping the bandage, she was having a conversation with Feliciano and cooing over the cuteness. Too bad though, for she would've seen another death glare between Kiku and Li Xiao.

**/=+=/**

**And the Halloween arc is over~! Please keep voting for your favorite pairings!**

**And speaking of Spamano, I'm a little mixed. I'm more into the Spain x Romano x Belgium mix, but I don't know which pairing to choose…damn.**


	42. A Flick of the Past

**Keep going and going with the fillers, cause I can. Hahahahaha.**

**/= [DAY 55] =/**

What can she say? Class after Halloween is nothing short of a little dead. Nonetheless, she at least got time to start talking to Kiku behind the teacher's back. He kept sneaking CDs of UTAUloids that he was able to take of other nations, much to her delight.

"_This one is of Ludwig. I kept saying it was for school purposes and he finally caved in."_ Kiku chuckled. _"I hope you like it."_

"_Excellent…now is the time for me to make him sing…"_ She cackled. _"Sing for me, my tsundere German…__**sing for meeeeee…"**_

"_The only catch is that the voice box is in Japanese, so you'll have to write all the songs in Japanese to make him sing clearly."_ He stated.

"_No problem…I've been learning Japanese so that I could reprogram Miku Hatsune to sing a minute and a half's worth of CLOVERS…"_

"_You mean Three-Leaf Clover?"_

"_**I know what I mean…"**_

He chuckled softly to himself. Charice was always one to be such a fangirl. At least Elizabeta had her obsession under wraps. She wasn't afraid to tackle-glomp anyone in her trails, even Ludwig _(and she had a phobia of Germans! How does that work?)_! Even then, she had a motherly quality that prevented her from actually fangirling someone to death. That is oddly rare.

"_Actually, Kiku…I already have a dance for that song…"_

"_You do, do you?"_ Kiku's eyebrows went up. _"Have you even heard this song before?"_

"_Hell yeah, I did."_ She chirped. _"I'll show you during lunch~"_

**/=+=/**

The dance that Charice made for the minute and a half involved a lot of skipping and grapevineing, a little too much for Kiku's old body. Half of the time he was complaining about back pains, something that Charice stared at for a few minutes before continuing her dance. So much energy in her bones, from a nation that was a colony half the time…he couldn't help but be envious.

"C-can we…take a break?" He plopped on the nearest chair. "There's too much twirling…for me…"

"Eh? Here I thought you can handle Doitsu-ki's massive amounts of training!" She answered back. "Hell, I can't run that far!"

Kiku almost chuckled. Doitsu-ki. That means that she was going into a bit of Cute-Obsession mode. She would always have a nickname for people that she trusted, and always knew when to keep it to formality. Even when he took her as a prisoner of war…

No. No use thinking about the past.

"Eh? Kiku-ni? Are you OK?"

He chuckled this time. He was blessed with a cute nickname this time. For some reason, that made him happy. A little…happier than what he was used to…and he didn't even think that was possible…

"I…was just thinking about something." He looked up. "Are you hungry at all?"

"Eh? Hungry? _**Oh yeah, I am!"**_ She chirped. "Wow, I almost forgot!"

"How can you forget being hungry?"

"I dunno, I just do!" She grabbed her bento box. "Stuffed to the brim!"

"You're using my bento box…" He blinked.

"Yeah, so? It stores a lot of food in it! Too bad it can't store a fork and spoon…you have to carry it separately!" She sighed.

"That's how the Japanese eat, of course." He stated, a sad smile on his face. "Simple, not too much."

"Wow…so different from us…for we Filipinos eat whenever we want and gain _**nothing!"**_

"Yeah…I've seen." Kiku chuckled.

"Eh? Kiku-ni, are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He answered. "I was just…thinking about something about the past."

"Hm? How far back? 5000 years? 3000? 2000? The year Naruto entered the American anime diet?"

"No…back when I was under militia rule…and World War II."

Charice stood silent as Kiku slowly started eating from his bento box. It was really inevitable that these two would talk about their pasts like this. He had taken over her and her brother, there's no use denying it. Now that their relations are relatively peaceful, they had to face the past…right?

"The war that took over the world." Charice dictated out loud, eating her bento box.

"Yes…you do remember that war."

"How can I not? You took over my people and sent American POVs there to die." She answered calmly and matter-of-factly.

"That was during war times…when my allies fell and I was the only one left…"

"Yeah. Alfred and my brother both went and fought you." Charice turned to him. "It was the longest that I've ever been away from him."

"I see…" Kiku looked up. "I must ask this, because this has been bugging me…have you been resenting me for that?"

Charice was silent, placing a finger on her lips and looking to the sky. After a few minutes of total silence, Kiku watched as she turned toward him with a blank look on her face…a blank look that he had only seen on Rizal.

"Odd enough…not anymore." She blinked. "I've had something, yeah, but that never lasted past two or three years."

"T-that short of a period?" Kiku blinked.

"Yeah, I know. I was surprised myself. But no matter how much people tried telling me to hate you, the rage vanished without even leaving a scratch." She answered. "I guess I found the heart to forgive you."

"But…why?"

"…I guess it's how the saying goes: _**Time heals all wounds."**_ Charice stated. "Everything vanishes as the people who hold the grudges are embraced in God's arms. Good things, bad times…every time the slate is washed clean and we start anew."

Kiku was silent.

"And I guess my slate cleaned out before anyone else could even think about wiping the past." She stated. "I don't know anything about how my brother thinks about this…but I'm sure that he'll forgive you, if not already."

"…hai. Arigato."

"Uh huh. Now let's not talk about this stuff. We have lunch to eat~!"

**/=+=/**

As Kiku entered the restaurant, he saw Li Xiao eating at the ramen bar in peace. He quietly sat down next to him and ordered his bowl of ramen, waiting in silence for the food to come to him. It came with great haste, and he quickly started eating from it.

"So I hear you've hung out with Charice this afternoon."

"Yes I did."

"May I ask about what you talked about?"

"The past. Nothing of great importance."

"I see…"

They ate in silence.

"She gave me a nickname, you know. Kiku-ni."

"She gave me one too, you know. Xiao-kun."

"Not creative, I see."

"She gave me one nonetheless."

"Interesting."

They ate in silence.

"I heard that you were taking lessons in Italian."

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"Doesn't Charice know Italian?"

"She's learning just like I am."

"Are you having fun with it?"

"It's flowing and easy on the tongue."

"I see."

They ate in silence.

"You could've joined us in eating lunch."

"They wanted me down at the auditorium. Rizal wanted someone to work on the spotlights."

"I see…you would've seen an intimate conversation."

"I'm sure that I would."

They ate in silence.

"May the best man win."

"Yes, may he."

They ate in silence.

**/=+=/**

**And the tension is born.**


	43. Hetalia High School Host Club?  What?

**MORE FILLER, MORE FILLER, MORE FILLER~! Cause guess what? I chose what subplot I'm doing…and **_**I'M NOT TELLING YOU!**_

**/= [DAY 56] =/**

"Wait a minute…we didn't win the Halloween Fright Contest?"

"No, no you didn't."

"Well, why not? Our plan was _**awesome!"**_

"It was, until Ivan decided to trap us all in a room and ask if we want to be one with him."

"Oh…oh, true."

Gilbert nodded in acceptance as he and Charice sat on the bench, waiting for the crowd to clear. Her photography class called for her to take pictures of a posing individual in order to work on a comic montage. And seeing as how Ludwig wasn't willing at all _(don't think she's tried)_, she got the other German to participate. Thank god, cause he was more than willing to do so.

"And why aren't we starting now?"

"The teacher only wanted one person. We don't want anyone else in the pictures." She answered. "Don't ask, I'm just going with what she's saying."

"I see…that's totally unawesome."

"What's weirder is that you haven't signed up for the class."

"I tried. Somehow, I couldn't get in."

"Eh? But Matthew was able to get in?"

"Oh, Francis' son?" Gilbert grinned. "Wow, since when did he want to take pictures of men?"

"Maybe he's gay like the rest of the world." She chuckled.

"Geez, you have to say it like that? You make it sound unawesome."

"Well, I'm a woman. I'd like to be in a relationship with another nation, if there is a chance for that."

"Are you saying that you're available?"

"What, are you saying that you're actually straight?"

"What if you want me to be?"

"_**NNOOOOOOO DON'T DO IT, PLEASE!**_ All the fanfiction would be inaccurate if you are!"

"_**Eh?"**_

"God, can you imagine the look on Elizabeta's face when she learns that one of you is straight. _**Half the fandom**_ would collapse on itself!"

"Ahhhh…are you saying that I'm gay?"

"I'm saying that everyone can at least be reasonably bisexual like Rizal…makes the fandom work while saving your manhood."

"Are you saying that anyone who's gay has no manliness to them?"

"If they constantly take bottom…and in your account, I guess you're one of them."

"_**I don't constantly do that!"**_

"Oh, so you're actually gay?"

"I-I'm…what's your word? 'Bi'. Happy?"

"Reasonably so. At least you can dominate on **something."**

"I know~!"

"Of course, women…and…uh…"

"I can _**so**_ dominate men!"

"…sure…OK…whatever."

"_**OH COME ON! TAKE THOSE PHOTOS OF ME, AND LET US SEE IF I CAN'T BE FREAKIN' DOMINANT!"**_

**/= [DAY 57] =/**

She had no idea what the hell was being planned here. All she knew was that when she opened the door to start a day, there was a piece of paper taped on it. It wasn't anything special: just a white piece of paper with Filipino written on it. Of course, being Filipino, she was able to translate it.

**[YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED FOR A TEST RUN.]**

**[AFTER SCHOOL, AT 3:30 PM]**

**[IN THE MUSIC ROOM ROOM 398-A]**

**[HOPE TO BE BLESSED TO SEE YOUR PRESENCE]**

**[PS- Dress yourself up. We wish to make you feel comfortable]**

…_the hell?_

She blinked a few more times. And then a few times more. Then she decided that she might as well allow herself to be dressed up…in whatever she could. Fortunately, she had a whole hour to figure out just how the hell that was going to be done. Hopefully, this wasn't a gang rape.

Once school was over, she headed back to her room and realized that she didn't have any make-up with her. Maybe it was because she never felt like dressing up before. But whatever the reason was, she had no make-up whatsoever. So she gave up and threw on some chapstick. She decided _**not**_ to wear something red and opted to instead wear something with a jacket. She then decided on a white jacket with a black frilly shirt and black pants…and sneakers, of course.

_Whoa. I feel weird like this._ She never bothered on what she looked like.

With the paper in her hand, she grabbed her bag _(armed with pepper spray, of course)_ and headed out toward the school ballroom. Five minutes in her walk, she realized something that apparently she forgot to think up during her usual stroll through the school.

…_where's the school ballroom?_

**/=+=/**

Seeing as how she had a half-hour to look around, she was able to find the room. The door didn't look anything fancy, like she had just walked in front of the wrong location. Nonetheless, the sign on it did say that it was the room she was called to. Hopefully, this really wasn't a gang rape.

_Well, it's 3:30…I might as well go and do this._

Charice slowly opened the door and saw that it was dark and empty. However, as she walked in, she did see Lin Yi and Elizabeta standing close toward the open entrance. The Taiwanese and Hungarian woman turned around and saw the Filipina walk in with caution in her step.

"You actually dressed up for this occasion?"

"I figured I might as well." Charice chuckled. "Besides, it's easier to high kick in pants."

"I guess so." Lin Yi chuckled.

"Not really." Elizabeta stated. "Hey, did you hear? Apparently, Erika and Irunya were given the same invitation for yesterday."

"…_so this ISN'T the first opening…?"_

The door slammed behind them, startling the women. Suddenly, the sound of a piano echoed throughout the room, scaring the crap out of the easily started Filipina. Elizabeta found it oddly funny, but Lin Yi didn't think it was funny how Charice was suffering something that should've been a panic attack.

"It's Chopin!" She stated, swaying back and forth.

"_**It's DARK AND QUIET!"**_ Charice countered.

"Now now, this isn't the time for arguments-"

A light shot open, revealing a strange sign in the middle of the room and a man standing right underneath it. Charice couldn't read the sign whatsoever _(whoever decided that it was going to be in Japanese will be severely PUNCHED IN THE THROAT)_, but she could definitely tell who was the man.

"Ladies, thank you for coming to see us today…we here are more than happy to serve your every occasion and to make sure that your well-being is looked upon. Your happiness is our happiness. Now if you would kindly take a seat behind you, we will let the previewing begin. Please enjoy the shows that we of the Host Club can serve you."

They turned around and saw a couch empty and big enough for the three of them. Charice rubbed the back of her head.

"_It's France…this is definitely a gang rape."_

Nonetheless, she sat down with the other two women, feeling just a little bit safer. The lights went out again _("someone should be FIRED!")_ before it went back on over the sign that was now apparently in something that was either Chinese or Japanese.

"Eh? 'A Story of My Broken Heart'?" Lin Yi tilted her head. "What does that mean?"

_So it's Taiwanese?_ Is that even a language?

They heard another click and what sounded like a car driving down a highway. Yes, Charice looked around to make sure that no car would actually come screaming into the room and run the three of them over _(wouldn't that just suck?)_. But nothing happened. Instead, she heard something that sounded like a crashing car and a police siren…or an ambulance siren…one of those two. Whatever. Anyway, the scene panned to another spotlight and what looked like Kiku in a hospital bed and Yao crying next to it. A long beeping sound echoed out, and two shadows pulled the Chinese man back as two others pulled the bed away. Soon, Yao was alone, wiping his own tears away.

"And so my oldest and closest brother moves away from me…returning to a place that is better for him, away from the chaos and torture that is this land…" He fell to his knees. "But why him? Why not me? He had so much of his life in his hands…a mind that can go wherever it pleased…nothing was beyond his boundaries. I am only human…I cannot fill the void that my brother had filled. He was the talented one, not me…"

The lights slowly faded.

"Why, dear brother? Why did you leave me?"

The light faded into black, and all Charice could hear was Lin Yi sobbing quietly to herself and Elizabeta rubbing her hands in a strange cooing motion. Charice, on the other hand, barely caught on the fact that Kiku was in a car accident. It reminded her of a time when Feliciano was behind the wheel of a car. _**Scary times…**_

The light flashed back onto the sign, and this time it was in Hungarian _(freakin' bitches)_. According to Elizabeta, it said 'Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve', and almost instantly three pendants appeared before them. Charice picked it up and realized that it was one of those "I Love You" pendants, where you're supposed to hand over a piece to your other half or something. At least hers looked prettier than the others…

Suddenly, it showed the image of Alfred talking to what looked like men in drag. What was horrible was that Charice had to squint in order to confirm that. Seriously, what is up with these men and _**dresses?**_ Fortunately, another spotlight flashed on Arthur, who was gratefully _not_ in drag and was instead holding a pendant of his own. He kissed the head of it.

"I come from a land for which what I am means that I am not accepted." He stage-whispered _(there is a difference)_. "I am a good Catholic, so is it wrong for me to hold these emotions for a man while I should clearly have them for women? What makes me so much different from those who make and break such a beautiful thing as this? How am I not worthy if I know that this will not be mine?"

The lights switched around, this time showing Gilbert talking to transvestite people / women(?) and another girl standing a few feet away. Charice couldn't catch who this one was.

"_I come from a land for which what I am means that I am not accepted."_ The girl stated, holding a pendant in her hand and adjusting her glasses. _"Because I cannot live as myself, I must live in a veil. For I am an actor whose stage has been covered, forced to mask their voice to appeal those who listen on the other side. But soon…once I can get the money from all this hard work…I can finally get this operation…and perhaps I can finally be accepted for who I am."_

The lights faded on Gilbert, and the blond girl grabbed her braids and slowly pulled them off, revealing…

"_**HOLY CRAP!"**_

Charice's face was completely _**plastered**_ the time the third sign came up. It was in Tagalog, so basically it stated 'When You're Not Really Yourself'. She heard footsteps and saw the image of Feliciano running from one side of the stage to another in a panic _(why the hell is he dressed like prince?)_. More footsteps echoed after them, and soon Antonio, Arthur and Francis ran into the room _(why the hell are they __**DRESSED UP LIKE PIRATES?)**_.

"You have nowhere to run, pretty boy. You're coming with us." Francis grinned.

"Why…?" Feliciano looked up. "Why do you want me…?"

"We don't want _**you**_…we want what you _**have**__**…"**_ Antonio smiled. "The being inside you…"

"Inside…me?" Feliciano panicked. "W-what do you mean? There is nothing inside me! Only me!"

"No, there is not just you, my boy…you hold a power that people all over the world can't even fathom…" Arthur stepped forward. "And we need it."

The lights flashed around for a few minutes _(sparkle rave, anyone?)_, before it flashed back on Feliciano, only to reveal that he had switched with his brother who was in the exact same costume. He opened his eyes and rose to his feet with a glare that she had to say was kinda hot.

"What the hell do you want with me?" He spat.

"Oh, there you are. We ask for cooperation." Antonio stretched out his blade. "For if you don't, we will have to let your vessel suffer."

"Nothing will harm Feliciano, not even my own strength." Lovino lifted his hand. "Come on!"

The lights flashed to black, and for some reason she could've _**sworn**_ that she heard someone that should _**not**_ be laughing cackling like a madman _(god, is that a German tone to it?)_. After that the lights went on, revealing the room to be empty yet again.

"That was a little strange." Elizabeta stated.

"I thought it was a bit entertaining." Lin Yi turned to Charice. "What do you think?"

"…"

"What's wrong?"

"…I think I just got raped by a history textbook…"

**/=+=/**


	44. Going Around the School

**I'll just keep adding filler until I feel that we have enough time to get the next guy killed~**

**/= [DAY 58] =/**

"A…host club?"

"Apparently. It was traumatizing, to say the least."

Rizal could only sigh as he turned back to the notebook in front of him, writing down all the Calculus formulas that he could remember off the top of his head. The fact that it was basically a whole bunch of guys trying to sound suave in front of his sister really did irk him a little.

"They didn't…touch you, right?"

"No. I did bring pepper spray in case they did." She pointed out. "Aaaaand…they got me this really cool pendant! Apparently, you give it to your soulmate~!"

"Soulmate, huh?" Rizal sighed. Wonder if he could be as lucky?

"Yeah, apparently that's the point." Charice sighed. "Though I can't imagine a guy wearing a girly necklace."

"Have you _**seen**_ half the guys here?"

"Well, if they all have the manly mindset as Doitsu-ki, then I'd assume that I'm right."

Rizal sighed. She had a point there.

"Hey, speaking of Doitsu-ki…you hang out with him a lot, don't you?"

"Hang out with him? W-we just bump into each other a lot in the school." He stated, scratching his chin. "W-we don't talk much."

"No? Well, you see him more often, so I guess you're still a good person to ask…" Charice looked up. "Has Doitsu-kun acted…strange, recently?"

Rizal paused.

"I mean, he told me that he's been remembering stuff from his past-"

"He's told me that too."

"Yeah, but not only that, it's like every time he remembers something, he gets quieter or whatnot." She started doodling on her notebook. "I want to assume it's because he's finding some old skeletons in that newly refurbished closet of his, but…does that happen to people who have amnesia?"

"No, not really. They usually open up to someone they really trust."

"Huh…so he either doesn't trust anyone or he's been talkin' to Feli-chan." She rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever it is, we can't help him. It's a problem he's going to figure out on his own."

"What, you're just going to give up like this?"

"Eh? Give up? No no no. If he wants our help, then he's getting the full Pacquiao package with a 90% extra battery, no questions asked." Charice stated. "But as we are now, we don't know anything about him past what other people had been saying…and they aren't saying much. If we said anything that could help him…we could end up hurting him a thousand times over in the end."

Rizal sat there in silence.

**/= [DAY 59] =/**

"_**SATURDAAAAAAAY! And NO REHEARSALS TOO!"**_

What a blessing she had. Of course, she had to get into the school because the **Asia** class was decorating the school for the Thanksgiving month _(why only them, she'll never know)_, but hell beats being in the same room as a French man who's comparing breast sizes with people. It would leave her some time with her best friend Yong Soo, especially.

"Your breasts belong to _**me**_, da ze!"

"No, they don't~!"

Charice skipped out of the way, seeing Yong Soo plop right in front of her and laughing all the while. Of course, he quickly forgave her and the two of them went skipping into the lobby, where Wang Yao was giving people where they were going to cover.

"Yong Soo! Charice! You'll be decorating the West Hall from Rooms 218 to 390!"

"_**All those rooms, da ze…?"**_

"Yes! If you keep complaining, you'll never get them done aru! Now go!"

Charice shrugged and dragged Yong Soo and the box of decorations toward the West Hall _(which for some reason she still couldn't find easily…which sucked because she had at least two classes there)_, finding room 218 with surprising ease. She pushed Yong Soo into the room.

"We might as well get this over with, dude." She chuckled. "It takes…what, five minutes to decorate one room?"

"But there are _**172 rooms**_ to decorate, da ze…"

"If you keep complaining like that, you might as well decorate both the auditorium and the gymnasium. And you'll need _**ladders."**_

"Uwwaaa! I don't wanna do that much work, da ze…"

"Too bad, get to work. Afterwards, I'll treat you to ice cream~!"

"…fine, da ze."

The two of them got to work, and to their amazement they had zoomed through a lot of the rooms in under half an hour. Then they hit room 295, and as Charice was taking down all of the pumpkin decorations, she turned and saw Kiku running a lap around the school.

"Hey, Yong Soo! What's Kiku doin' down there? I thought he was helping us decorate!"

"Eh? Oh, I guess Ludwig's doing his power training again, da ze!"

"Training? During a Saturday break?" Charice blinked. "Why? Doitsu-ki should know to give his friends a break!"

"He's just like that, da ze. At least, that's what Kiku told me da ze."

Charice shrugged as she watched Kiku run further into the grounds before returning to fix the room. Yong Soo headed over to the metal locker from behind the room and took off the magnet, suddenly hearing loud clanging from inside. He jumped back and yelped in shock.

"Be careful over there, Yong Soo!" She spat.

"T-t-there's something in there, da ze!"

"Something…?"

The rattling continued, startling the both of them. Charice quickly grabbed a chair as the rattling finally stopped, and an eerie silence echoed through the room. She took a deep breath before getting the chair and poking the locker door yet again.

"_Y-yaaah! H-hello there! I am the Cleaning Locker Fairy!"_

"…" _W-what the hell?_ "Feli-chan. Next time you go hide somewhere, try hiding somewhere that's a little more spacious!"

"_I-I'm not this Feli-chan! I am the Cleaning Locker Fairy! No matter what, never open this door! Lock 'n roll!"_

"…he could've made a better trademark statement, da ze…"

"He's not Asian, he can't do that." Charice sighed. "Come on, Feli-chan. It's just me and Yong Soo here."

"_N-never open this door! Lock 'n roll!"_

"Oi, Feli-ku! This whole school's pretty big, and I'm sure that Doitsu-ku will be skimming _**all the lockers**_ to find you da ze!"

"_Ah-! I-I thought this would be a good place to hide from Doitsu too…lock 'n roll."_

_He's…still saying that._ "Yong Soo's got a point here, so it's best you come out of there!"

"Not only that, but we'll use our superb Asian ninja skills to get you out of here to safety, da ze!" Yong Soo posed _(to who?)_. "Cause stealth missions originated in me!"

_Suuuuuuure they did._ "Come on, Feli-chan, get out of there. We won't tell Doitsu-ki that you were here~!"

"_Really?"_

"Now do I ever want to misplease my dear Feli-chan? No, no, no, my blood has no heart for hurting you!" Charice chirped. "So come out here, Feli-chan! No one's here to harm you!"

The locker was silent for a while, leaving Yong Soo to wonder if it really was a fairy in there. Suddenly, the door slowly creaked open and Feliciano quietly came out of it, closing the door behind him. He rubbed the back of his head shyly and nodded.

"T-thank you, Charice…Yong Soo…p-please don't tell Doitsu that I was here…"

"No one tells Germany anything, da ze!" Yong Soo saluted. "That is something we can do!"

"Of course, of course! We can come back to room 295 later to grab our materials!" Charice threw open the door. "Let's go-"

"_**IT-A-LI-**__**AAAAAAAA!**__**"**_

Would you know it, Ludwig was standing right outside the door. And with Charice as close as she was to the scream, she flew away screaming bloody murder and threw herself back into the locker, leaving Yong Soo and Feliciano to cling to each other screaming in a timely fashion.

"There you are…all this time!" He said in his deep, rather demanding voice. "What are you doing here?"

"_**WAAAAAAAAAH I'LL DO ANYTHING DOITSU I'LL DO ANYTHING, ANYTHING SO PLEASE DON'T HURT MEEEE!"**_

"_**WHAT ABOUT ME, DA ZE? **__**DON'T HURT ME EITHER PLEASEEEEEEEEE!**__**"**_

"You're going to training whether you like it or not, Italy! This is for your own good!" Ludwig grabbed his sleeve.

"_**Waaaah! Don't force me, don't force me!"**_ He sobbed. _**"P-please don't hurt meeeee!"**_

"…sigh…sorry for the trouble, you two." Ludwig stated.

"…I'm…OK…da ze…" Yong Soo looked around in a weary state. "Eh? W-where's Charice?"

"I think I saw her go into the locker over there…"

Ludwig _(while still holding Feliciano hostage)_ walked over to the locker and quietly knocked on the metal door holding the locker closed. Sure enough, there was a small rattle.

"_Yaaaah! H-hello there! I am the Cleaning Locker Fairy! I'm not anyone you know, so please don't shoot me!"_

He sighed.

**/= [DAY 60] =/**

"Ahhh…the wind is so beautiful today…there's no cloud in the sky, the sun's not trying to kill me with overheating our planet…maybe now I can-_**OWWWWWWW!"**_

She felt like she ran into something, yet when she looked up she saw that it was only Antonio, his hands up like he had just pissed someone off and just now realized it. Charice quickly straightened herself to her feet and chuckled.

"Ahahahaha…sorry. Didn't see you there."

"_I-it's OK, querida…I didn't see you either…"_

"Eh? Why the quiet tone of voice?"

"_Roma-chan said it might be a sore through…said not to speak too loudly or it'll go worse…"_ He started beaming. _"My Roma-chan looked so worried that I just had to agree with him~!"_

"…" She tilted her head. She had to admit that Antonio seemed cute when he was whispering. Maybe it was another rule to go into the bishounen rulebook…

"_Actually, have you seen Gilbert anywhere? I was supposed to meet up with him here…"_

"No, I didn't even see you. Now why in the world would I see him if I didn't even-"

"_**OI!**_ How's that throat of yours hangin' out, Antonio?"

They turned their heads to see a beaming Gilbert parading toward them like he owned the freakin' place. And seeing as how he was now half German _(full German, half German? What does the word "Prussian" even mean these days?)_, she figured that he must've been telling some form of the truth.

"_It's doing OK, thank you for asking. Roma-chan's been caring for me, so I'm doing even better than before~!"_

"That's good to hear! The last thing we need is for that guy to have no father figure! That'll be totally unawesome!"

"…hah?"

"Oh, Charice! Sorry, didn't see ya there~!"

"…father…figure…?"

"Oh, you didn't tell her you raised Lovino, dude? Totally unawesome!"

"…no, I knew that…but…_**you?**_ A father figure?"

"Aw, come on, Charice~! I thought you knew this! I raised Ludwig, remember?"

"Yeah…but…I figured he raised himself, being the obnoxious nutjob…drinker…dude…you are…"

"Kesesesesese! I'm a better man than you think~! And your buddy Antonio here got a hold of you _**and**_ Lovino! Makes the two of you West's cousins, don'CHA think?"

"_Ahahahaha! That makes perfect sense!"_

Charice, however, could not catch on whatsoever. Sure, she can see herself as Lovino's brother _(which would make her Feliciano's brother and hence she can call him 'kuya' and her 'sorella', which would make him so much cuter KYAAAAA)_ and can give him all the love she gives Rizal. But the fact that she could be related to a _**German…**__**especially**_ after yesterday's fiasco…

"Oh, speakin' of potential cousins…isn't that France's kid over there?"

The three of them turned their heads to see Matthew stepping out into the eastern courtyard, mumbling something she couldn't catch to himself. After a few minutes, he bumped into someone. She instantly recognized her to be Seychelles, from the **Africa** class. Her human name was Seyel, she believed. Their conversation was too quiet for them to hear anything.

"_Who's he, again?"_ Antonio asked.

"_Matthew Williams. Canada."_ Charice answered. _"You don't remember?"_

"_Damn, look at him being all shy to her."_ Gilbert chuckled under his breath. _"He's pretty cute like that!"_

"_Yeah, I know…"_ She answered. Heck, all guys are cute when they're shy. Even Germany. And **she's the one with the **_**phobia!**_

"_You would think that he would know how to talk to a girl, what with his father being the great Francis Bonnefoy."_ Gilbert chuckled.

"_Then again, he's not a pervert like Francis."_ Charice chuckled.

**/=+=/**

**Yes, another threesome. MY GOD, they're everywhere! I might as well list all of them that I'm going to use.**

**[Li Xiao x Charice x Kiku]**

**[Rizal x Ludwig x Feliciano]**

**[Antonio x Lovino x Anri]**

**And ****nooooow**

**[Gilbert x Matthew x Seyel]**

**Yes, you're talking to a rare Canada x Seychelles fan here. So this threesome does exist. Sorry, ladies~**

**Oh, and I'm spinning around the idea of a crack!fic in my head. Basically, it's nothing more than a montage of Hetalia AUs. In other words, I'm pulling off another "Hetalia: The Fantasy Story" with every other sense of media in the world. If anyone wants it, throw it out there and I might do it.**


	45. Are They Hitting on Me?  Damn

**Mooooorrrreeee filllleeerrrr! I'm trying to figure out how many more filler episodes I want up before I throw you the subplot…**

**/= [DAY 61] =/**

"_Charice…"_

She froze, turning her head slowly to a rather annoyed looking Natalya. And it was basically her that apparently made her phobia of Germans seem more like an annoyance than a gut-wrenching fear. Hell, at least it allows Charice to handle Germany a little more.

"Um…yeah? W-what's up?"

"Have you been talking to big brother Ivan recently…?"

"…no…haven't…seen him in a while…" Charice tensed up all her nerves. "Though…h-he might be at the next Glee Club meeting…in a few day's time…if you wish to talk to him then."

"That is not my problem…_**are you taking him away from me?"**_

"_**EH?**__** AM I?**_ Um…mentally or physically? Cause if I'm physically taking him away, you can get him back! I open my doors to you! Drag him back to your home…nation, house, planet, _**wherever!"**_

"My brother Ivan likes to talk about you…he says he likes your charm…in a way…"

"Sure…sure, sure sure…b-but everyone has that charm too! Doesn't he talk about other people? I-I'm sure he does!"

"He seems to have recently gained a preference for you…"

_Wait…does that mean that Ivan's actually STRAIGHT?_ Whoa, that's a mindfuck.

"_**SO WHY ARE YOU TAKING BIG BROTHER IVAN AWAY FROM ME?"**_

"_**I DUNNO!**_ M-maybe it's because I'm not as clingy or terrified of him as other people!"

"…hm?"

"W-well, uh…p-people like affection as much as the next guy…b-but once someone gets clingy, t-they start fleeing to other people! C-cause…um…clinginess is…s-scary…"

Natalya stared at her for a few minutes before giving off a huff and storming away from Charice, not even looking at her in the eyes anymore. She stared at her fleeing image for a few minutes before turning back to the direction she was facing.

_Did I just win a standoff with Natalya?_

She skipped to her next class in happiness.

**/=+=/**

The school day was officially over, but Charice was too bored to return to the dorms. So she wandered the area bored out of her skull until she could see the sun setting from the tall buildings. After all that, she found herself listening to a piano echoing through the hallways.

Wait, piano?

**/= "Independence" by HetaOni =/**

"If it's a piano, then it should be Roderich~"

She loved how her thinking worked. Sure enough, her ears led her toward the music hall where the Music Club would usually meet. After a few minutes, she found herself standing in front of the door waiting for something to happen. Charice wondered if she could just leave.

"I know you're there, Charice."

"_**WAH!"**_

"If you wish to come in…you may do so."

She blinked for a few minutes before opening the door and walking in, seeing Roderich at the piano playing as always. As she closed the door behind her, she felt oddly out of place. For one thing, Roderich was out of his uniform and was now wearing a purpleish jacket that didn't look that bad on him.

"If I am allowed to ask, why did you not leave school grounds? There are no rehearsals or club meetings today."

"Well…I got bored, and I didn't want to explore the city." Charice answered. "I was thinking about it when I heard the piano music."

"Ah, I see…" He smiled. "Well then, I'm happy to be worthy of your company."

_Is he hitting on me?_ "That's good to hear. May I ask what you were playing before?"

"Oh, so you have heard this." He had a sad smile on his face. "These are my emotions before you came into the room."

"…really? But it sounded…depressing. Like, _**downer**_ music!"

"Yes…well…the emotions emitting from this school seem to affect me just a little."

"…you're…being affected by the school?"

"It's something that I can't really explain in words, really…but for you, I will try." Roderich looked through the empty classroom. "This whole school, when I first entered through these doors, had such a strange blanket of loneliness that I had not felt before. Maybe it was because a huge concentration of people had never stayed inside a single building for huge amounts of time before…"

"Sadness…"

Charice couldn't help but think about all the Shadows that she had been fighting off in people's other worlds. How sad they were, how angry they were to themselves and the world, and how they thought that everything would've been better off if they had just…

"But now that I see you here, the mood feels…uplifted…clean."

"Cleansed?"

"Yes…again, I don't know how to explain it."

"Use the piano. I may not be able to read a music sheet, but I can hear good music when I hear it."

Roderich took that as his cue to return to the piano and start up again on his emotional playing. Charice could barely tell that he had paused for just a minute.

**/= "The Decision of Love" by HetaOni =/**

The song seemed so happy compared to the other one, that it actually made her smile. She compared the song to actually exploring the worlds of the minds, fighting off Shadows, making them resolve their conflicts and leaving them cleansed of their pasts, at least to themselves. She rubbed the back of her head as she thought of how she helped Kiku in his issue, how he was going to turn his back on society yet again…and of Antonio, how his smile held so many secrets behind them.

"For some reason, I found myself playing to express the emotional conflicts that I have felt throughout this school…and I have a feeling that it helps."

"It…helps?"

"Yes. Sometimes, when the emotions are too great, I come here to play. Irunya heard me on the first day and decided to form a music club, which helped my cover, but…it doesn't help the emotions as much."

"So you're saying that the music you play…helps the overall emotions of this school."

"Helps, not fully heals." He answered. "I've seen it…the emotions slowly creeping up into a happier state."

Charice had no idea what to say. She had a feeling it was more of her input of jumping into people's worlds with Li Xiao that was helping the overall mood, but hey if Roderich could tell that people were getting depressed, she might as well give him that.

"I'm sorry if I'm making you more depressed."

"Nah, I rarely get depressed." That was a big lie.

"Perhaps I can set your mind at ease by offering you some coffee and cake?"

…

"_**CAKE?"**_

"Yes…cake. It's known as a Sachetorte from the German nations." He said with a soft laugh. "I heard from a few people that you had quite the sweet tooth."

"Understatement. Of the _**freakin' millennium.**__**"**_ She chirped. "Here I thought my nose was smelling something from the cafeteria…"

"Hahaha…ah, yes. A few people around the school said that you did have the nose of a bloodhound…"

"Yeah, well…they never told you that I have the ability to taste what I can smell and hear. And by the taste coming from my mouth, this must be some _**really**_ good cake!"

"Ahahaha…well, while you're here, perhaps we can partake in a small coffee break?"

_My god, he really IS hitting on me. Maybe I should tell him that coffee and I don't mix well?_ "Um…sure. Why not?" _Oh, he's in for it now._

"All right then. Allow me to serve your coffee."

"Sure…" _Jesus Christ, he's suave._

Nonetheless, Charice was trying to think up ways to calmly let him down and say she wasn't interested in him as Roderich slowly prepared the coffee that they were going to share. After a few minutes, she was smelling something that tasted like whipped cream, and all thought went straight out the beautiful arch windows that adorned the area.

"Here you are."

She looked down at the small coffee cup before her and instantly realized something: wasn't coffee supposed to be bitter tasting? _**Blech**__, _she hated bitter. But nonetheless, she had to drink it out of courtesy. So Charice swallowed her fear as she took in the coffee as well.

"Is the coffee to your liking?"

"…whoa. The coffee's sweet!" Charice stared at it. "How much creamer did you put in this? Is there anything in there that's remotely coffee?"

"Hahaha…yes, this is coffee." Roderich answered softly. "This is known as Einspänner."

"Einspänner…" She blinked. "Well, it's a good coffee."

"Yes…and by the looks of it, you have whipped cream on your lip."

"Eh?" She licked it. "Well, explains the sweetness!"

"Yes, indeed." His smile faded. "I'm confused about something."

"Shoot." She sipped the coffee.

"I heard from Ludwig that you are…phobic about Germans, aren't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You can tolerate me just fine."

"Well, in a way, you're not technically German…in a weird sense of the case." Charice put the coffee down. "But I've been working on my phobia prior to coming here. And so far, it's been working. I can handle being around Ludwig when there are other people in the room or when he's not screaming his head off about something."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Strange things, really." Charice sipped the coffee again. "Sometimes, I wonder if it was a phobia in the first place."

"Hahaha…maybe it's not. Nonetheless, I'm…happy that your fears do not associate themselves to me."

_My god, I got a freakin' Austrian hitting on me. Or maybe this is how Austrians naturally are to other people? OK, let's go with that. It makes this a whole less creepier._

"Well, I have to say that the whipped cream is really good, Roderich."

"Yes. It's well known that the quality of the whipped cream affects the quality and taste of the coffee it's served with." Roderich smiled. "I personally requested and received this from an acquaintance of mine who owns a ranch back where I come from, so it's fresh for usage."

_Yep. He's hitting on me._ _So much for that illusion._ "Well, that makes this coffee even better…and I'm not a coffee person!"

"I'm glad to hear that." That smile could win _**gay people**_ over. "Now then, I believe it's time to serve that long awaited Sachetorte that you've been waiting for…"

_**Hell yeah**__ to that._

Five seconds later, someone slammed the door open, making Charice scream bloody murder and Roderich turn his head and see Ludwig at the door. His face was completely red and…was he wearing a _**brown suit**__**?**_ She was so grateful that her phobia wasn't kicking in as of right now.

"**THEEERRREEEE YYYOOOOUUUUU AAAARRREEEE, AAUSTRIAAAA!"**

"_Holy crap."_ She blinked.

"? Ludwig?" Roderich asked calmly. "What purpose do you have here?"

"You'rrrrrreee such a _**bastarrdd…**_me and bruuudddderrr invited you overrrr and you said noooo…" Ludwig was swaying back and forth. "Whyyyyyyy?"

_Because by the looks of it, he'd be more traumatized than what the hell I'm watching now._ Charice had seen a drunk Germany before. Never again, she vowed. So much for that.

"I had things to attend to." Roderich answered calmly. "Besides, you know that your brother and I are not in good speaking terms as of the moment-"

"_**SCREEEWWWWW THAAAAT! FRIENSHIP will surpaassssss the neeedddsss of…of con-con-con…con…"**_

"_Conformity?"_

"_**YES! CONFORMITY, YES YES YES…"**_

"…Ludwig…" Roderich tilted his head and rubbed his chin. "Are you…drunk?"

"Arrrrrrree you kidding meeee? I. Am. 100. P-p-ppperr-cent…sober!" Ludwig stated with a slam of his hands. "I haven't had a beer in two minutes!"

_Oh…dear…god…high above…save me._ Charice rubbed her forehead. _What could possibly get any worse?_

That was when her sugar high kicked in.

**/= [DAY 62] =/**

She wanted to explore the TV in the Newspaper Wing again. For some reason, she wanted to relive the day that first created the Glee Club _(because after yesterday's I-don't-even-know-what-it-was event, she wanted something funny that was also UPLIFTING)_.

Charice was glad when she saw that no one was in the room, and then quietly skipped over to the screen to stick her head inside. Sure enough, she saw people fleeing toward the registration line like there was literally no tomorrow. None of them seem to see her, so she figured it was a good thing.

"Ce que…I guess Mathieu was true to his statements."

Charice darted her head and saw a rather amused Francis staring back at her. But instead of staring at her ass _(which seemed like a choice that he would take)_, he was staring at the fact that she stuck her head in a TV screen. That's when she realized it.

"Oh crap, you saw that didn't you?"

"You don't have to worry, mademoiselle…I've seen far too much before this moment."

"Eh?"

"Did you seriously think you could hide something as important as the body of a dear friend of mine?"

It was then that she realized what he was talking about: a few days ago, Gilbert and Antonio were talking about their little trio and how Francis was one of them as well. That would mean that while they were saving Gilbert's life, Francis must've seen the body…

"I-I'm surprised that you didn't start screaming through the school hallways what you saw." She said, feeling oddly uncomfortable for more reasons than should be stated.

"Well, I was about too when I saw all of you leave that strange portal of yours…and apparently it brought Gilbert back to life." Francis lifted his hands. "Please, no details. I have kindly asked Mathieu to tell me everything he knows, so I know everything as of now."

"…well, I guess that makes perfect sense. Your two best friends, your…son, I guess, and your rival are all in this…I guess it's weird to leave you out of it." Charice stated. "Does…anyone else know?"

"As far as I'm concerned, only me." Francis answered. "Though I must admit that I have opened up my knowledge only to my best friends."

"OK…well, I'm a little worried about how the others are going to find out." Charice rubbed the back of her head. "Especially Arthur. He has the magic."

"Tsk tsk tsk…he's not the only one who does, my dear. Normally, I don't practice it…but I do have quite the knowledge."

"…huh…please don't enchant me."

"Now why would I do something like that to a beautiful woman like you?"

_Would you like me to list the reasons?_ _Nah, never mind. _"Well, I guess having more people in the know makes keeping this secret a little easier…but if you enter the world, you're going to be in a lot of danger. And god forbid you have to face yourself."

"Which is why when you see your next victim, I will stay on this side of the portal." Francis insisted. "My magic may be rusty from not using it in a long time, but it will be able to cover up the stench of dead bodies before you come back."

"…thanks, Francis. That'd be a great help."

"Whatever I can to please the mademoiselle and protect my son from any dangers he may face."

She nodded, feeling a card between her fingers. Nonetheless, she felt her eyes twitch to the side, where she saw a half-man, half-woman…_**whatever**_ standing a few feet away from Francis' location. It looked a little creepy, but whatever, she guessed.

**["I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I."]**

_Oh…dear god._

**["AS THE ONE WHO SPEAKS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE GENDER LINE, I AM AT YOUR COMMAND."]**

_And here I thought IVAN was creepy._

The card fused with her body as she saw Francis smile in a way that wasn't a rape face. That's when she knew that there must be something in his blood that can make him an older brother, if not father.

"You know what? You're not a bad guy."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Oh god, it's that rape smile again.

**/=+=/**

**Ardha**** is the Hindu deity composed of Shiva and his consort Pavati, representing the fusion of male and female energies in the universe. Legends vary on why this was done, from him/her being the reincarnation of Shiva to a symbol of marriage, when Shiva and Pavati were so in love they became one so that they would not separate.**

**And yes, the scene above that was a homage to the Gakuen Hetalia game. Unless people are going to start asking for it, I am NOT shipping Austria x Philia. Watch people start asking.**

***loads shotgun***


	46. Filler Chap or Story Plot?

**Filler or story? Filler or story? Filler or story? AUUUUGGGGHHHH I DON'T KNOW ANYMOOOOOOOORE!**

**/= [DAY 63] =/**

"So, this the first meeting since the success of the Halloween performance, and I want to give you all a job well done!" Alfred chirped.

"I. Fucking. Hated. It."

"_Ve~~it wasn't that bad, fratello…"_

"_**IT **__**WAS**__** FUCKING BAD, FRATELLO!"**_ Lovino spat. "I mean, _**what the FREAKIN' HELL**_ was I wearing?"

"Well duh~! TINY MINI-SKIRTS!"

"_**What the-? WHO THE **__**HELL LET FRANCE IN?**__**"**_

"And that's the cue for-"

***MASSIVE CHAOS***

Charice stared at the satisfied look on Alfred's face as she barely realized that people were being thrown over each other and Lovino had just pulled out random tomatoes, meaning that _**shit gone real**_. Alfred calmly pulled her out of the room and smiled at her with something that sorta freaked her out.

"If you told me that you planned this, I will _**so**_ hurt you."

"Maybe I did-"

***PUNCH***

"Owowowowow_**ow!"**_

"Told ya."

"Ah…OK, if you just hear me out before hurting me again, I'd really appreciate it."

"…OK." Charice folded her arms.

"I have something planned for Arthur today, but it's a surprise and I need your help~!" Alfred winked. "If possible, can you?"

"Help…? Uh…" She sighed. Him and plans were a dangerous mix. Like Ivan and Natalya. "Sure. Why not?"

"Yaaaaaay~! OK, meet me in the park after school!"

_We have a park?_

**/=+=/**

_Holy crap, we have a park._

Charice stared at the scenery as she started walking around, the New York trees looking quite brilliant in the afternoon light. She would've been enjoying it just a little more if it hadn't been for the fact that she heard some familiar screaming coming from the lake.

_Wait a minute-_

She charged through the emptiness _(what strange sense of context)_ and found herself finding Alfred in the lake, flailing uselessly and trying to grab at something. A billion thoughts were going through her head, none of them rated low enough to state here.

_America's drowning!_ "Hey, Alfred!"

"Eh?" He stopped. "Oh, hey! You came around!"

…

"_**WHAT THE FUCK was **__**THAAAAT?**__**"**_

"Eh? Oh, this is my surprise for Arthur!"

"…killing yourself?" Charice blinked. "Geez, not to sound like a horn-blower cause I love you two, but shouldn't you at least try _talking_ to each other?"

"Ahahahaha! No no no, we're not breaking up!"

"So you're killing yourself."

"Nope! I'm giving Arthur a beautiful memory!"

"Of your drowned body down a beautiful river such as this?"

"No, Charice! I'm going to make Arthur a hero!"

"Eh?"

"I've talked to Francis yesterday, and he said that Arthur has always wanted to come to my aid ever since my independence." Alfred swam to the dock. "So I'm going to make him a hero today by making him save me from drowing in the lake!"

"…does he even know how to swim?"

"…I'm not really sure."

_Woooooooow._ "So what the hell am I doing here?"

"Easy! You're going to get Arthur over here and tell me that I'm drowning!"

"…why?"

"Please, Charice?"

"…fine. Whatever." She grinned. "But please don't kill yourself."

**/=+=/**

Charice found herself going to the dormitories and looking around for Arthur. Sure enough, she found him fixing up a few pieces of papers in a small backpack right in front of the doors. There was no effort in trying to get his attention: he instantly saw her.

"Oh, Charice." He grinned. "Let me guess: you're doing something stupid, aren't you?"

_I always do something stupid…but it didn't top today._ "Really now." She folded her arms. "Well, Alfred's drowning-"

"**WHAT?"**

"But really, don't worry. It's just another one of Alfred's small issu- hey, where'd you go?"

**/=+=/**

For some reason, her fangirl senses were tingling enough to lead her to his location. Five minutes later, she found Arthur heading toward the spot where Alfred was faking drowning. She had to admit, it was a little convincing once she watched it.

"**AAAGGGH! LEG CRAMP LEG CRAMP LEG CRAMP!"**

A little _**too**_ convincing, actually…

"Alfred! I'm coming!"

"Arthur? _**Arthur help me!"**_

_Oh crap he really is drowning!_

Charice was about to do something when Arthur jumped into the pool after him. She stood at the edge of the deck and watched as Arthur swam toward Alfred, grabbed his arm, and then slowly pulled him back to shore in order to complete Alfred's goal.

Well, that was the plan, anyway.

It was after he grabbed onto the American that she realized that he can't swim. She stared in panic as Arthur tried his best to stay afloat while trying to keep up a drowning American. She quickly grabbed her shoes and socks and pulled them off, ready to swim in after them. Fortunately, she was a natural swimmer.

Again, that was the plan.

Barely had she finally got her socks off when she saw a strange glow coming off of Arthur's back. The wind kicked up as they shot up into the air, and she clearly saw that Arthur's wings had shot up, his grip holding close to a rather startled Alfred.

"…A-Arthur…?"

"_C-crap…I…I moved up too quickly…"_

Charice ran down the deck as Arthur crashed-landed on the dock, letting Alfred loose. He scrambled to regain composure and went to his side, watching the Brit slowly open his eyes and shaking his head to clear his mind. And then he proceeded to smack his face.

"_**What the hell is wrong with you!"**_ He spat.

"…"

"…god dammit, Al. What the hell were you thinking…?"

"Arthur…?"

"Don't think that I don't know, dammit. One look on Charice's face told me it was a joke…but to think you were actually _**drowning**__**…WHAT THE HELL!"**_

"…I just wanted you to be a hero."

"Eh?"

Arthur slowly sat up, feeling the other's skin, and watching as he stared questioningly at the white feathers on his back. Of course he tried to touch it, and Arthur tried his best not to make a sound, though the red marks on his face clearly betrayed him.

"I've been talking with Francis yesterday, and he said that maybe I should make you a hero for once." He stated calmly.

"…_that bloody frog."_ He mumbled, feeling Alfred's fingers on his wing. _"Mmn…that git really needs to get off my back…"_

"Am I successful?"

"_**You bastard! You almost drowned!"**_ Arthur screamed, his voice cracked. "Why would I be grateful after…?"

He looked down again, the feelings coming through the wings taking over his body. After a few minutes, Alfred realized what he wasn't saying a word and lowered his hand, seeing the wing twitch away from him and curl behind the Brit's body.

"But you're a hero now."

"You idiot…if I lost you, there wouldn't be a reason to be a hero…"

It was then that Alfred realized that the Brit had tripped into _dere_ mode, his eyes starting to water up as it tried to hold back tears. The American took a deep breath before lightly hugging him, noticing that he didn't make a move to hide it. The wings curled around them, hiding them from view.

Except for Charice, of course.

**/= [DAY 65] =/**

"**OH HELL NO I DID **_**NOT**_** JUST DO THAT!"**

Ludwig looked up and saw that there was no one around him. He blinked for a few minutes before he felt his knees buckle, and he looked down to see that Charice was clinging onto his legs with a rather shocked / amused look on her face.

"I missed your birthday, didn't you?"

"Eh?" He blinked.

"October 20! I missed your birthday!"

"I-it's not a big deal-"

"_**BULLCRAP!"**_ She pointed accusingly at him. "I'm here to tell you a belated Happy Birthday!"

"T-thanks." He seemed pretty embarrassed by all the attention.

Charice chuckled, making Ludwig all the more embarrassed. She reminded him of Gilbert in a way…just that she doesn't drink and is open about her shipping to other people. It was then that she noticed something: there was a strange shadow in his eyes again…and there were bags under his eyes.

"What the hell are you doing after hours?"

"Eh?"

"There're bags underneath your eyes." She blinked. "Have you been sleeping at all?"

"N-not that much. I have…work to do." He stated. "Just because I'm a student here doesn't mean that I no longer have country duties."

"Didn't they send us here in order to take a break from those duties?" Charice blinked. "At least, that's what my boss told me."

"I…I insisted."

Her eyebrows went up, and Ludwig knew that she told right through that. Must've been a trait that she adopted when she was raising Rizal. Maybe she took that from Rizal. Maybe it's the other way around. He sighed.

"I…I've been having a hard time sleeping."

"Bedbugs? Insomnia? You have your brother's room next door?"

"…"

"Come on, Ludwig."

"…nightmares."

She froze. Her mind instantly warped back to what Feliciano had told her on Halloween. _Nightmares…they're both suffering from nightmares…_

"Oh."

"D-don't tell anyone, all right?"

"All right. It's just a nightmare, after all."

"…y-yeah…just a nightmare…"

"…? Are you blushing?"

"_**N-no! N-no, **_no, no…"

"Oh my god, you are!"

"N-no I'm not!"

"…oh my god, are you TSUNDERE?"

"W-what? N-no, no I'm not!"

"_**Holy crap YOU ARE!"**_

"**Ch-Charice! I'm ****NOT**** a tsundere! **What is Kiku telling you these days?"

"That you are such a tsundere!"

_Gott…where's that phobia when you need it…?_

**/=+=/**

**All right, all right! I'll stop the Gakuen Hetalia references! Geez! They're all on YouTube, if you want to watch. And yeah, I might start the subplot next chappie.**


	47. Victim Number Four With a Twist?

**Screw it. I'm going into the subplot. GET READY, LADIES **_**(and the two / three dudes that are probably reading this)**_**~!**

**/= [DAY 66] =/**

"Ah…hello there, Charice."

"Eh?" She looked up. "Oh, hey there…Francis." ***chill down the spine*** "H-how are you?"

"I wanted to escort you to school today."

_Oh. Freakin' awesome._ "Um…sure?" She took a step forward. "Why?"

"Can't a gentleman escort a young lady to her destination without reason?"

_For you? No._ "Um…whatever, I guess. We should get going."

"After you."

"Um…_**no.**_ After **YOU.**"

Francis chuckled as he stepped forward, walking slowly and allowing Charice to follow closely by. She chuckled for a few minutes she started the day like she did any other day: grabbing her iPod and heading out the door. Of course, this time the volume is put down in case Francis starts making mating calls…

**/= "It Only Hurts" by Default =/**

"…Francis didn't touch you?"

"No, not really." Charice blinked. "It's shocking, really."

Rizal blinked again at the rather shocked look on her face, and couldn't blame her: it was Francis. What else could be any weirder than a Frenchman that _**doesn't**_ go on a raping scheme? Besides, he didn't even bother to look at her boobs that time.

"_Eh? Oh, it's you two."_

They looked up and saw a stumbling Ludwig walking toward them, trying to keep himself straight and rubbing his eyes as of not really tired. Rizal quickly rose to his feet and headed to his side, his arms out to catch him and Ludwig making no move to get him out of the way.

"You're tired, Ludwig." He stated.

"_No, I'm…fine."_ Ludwig straightened himself. _"I…just fell asleep late…that's all."_

"Ludwig, you can barely stand." Rizal stated, his face covered with worry. "You're not fine."

"_Rizal…"_

"You need sleep." He commanded. "Please don't push yourself."

"…_OK…"_

Ludwig slowly stood up again and headed off toward the dormitories, leaving the both of them alone. After a few seconds, Charice looked up and saw him quickly dash off after him.

_What was that about?_

**/= "It Only Hurts" by Default=/**

"So there's no one for the Newspaper Club meeting today."

"Nope, not really. I felt bad, so I'm joining you." She looked around. "I thought that Rizal would be here."

"Well, I think he's watching over Ludwig." He stated.

Charice blinked as she and Kiku were eating alone in the newspaper room, their bento boxes shining in the white light. They ate in silence, and she could see that there was a strange cloud of worry over Kiku's eyes. Fortunately for her, the cloud didn't give her strange chills.

"Are you OK?" She blinked.

"Charice…have you talked to any of them recently?" He asked.

"Talked to them? Um…a little bit. Why?"

"Did…did they tell you anything?"

"Hm?"

"Ludwig and Feliciano have been losing sleep for no reason. Whenever I tried to ask them, they don't tell me anything." He looked down at the bento box. "We were such close friends back then…what happened?"

"I don't know. From what they have told me, they haven't even told each other."

"Eh? T-they've told you what the problem was?"

"I don't know why either. I figured it was because it was a side-effect of being the Wild Card." She stated. "They said that it had something to do with nightmares."

"…nightmares."

"Feli-chan told me that his nightmares involved watching everyone die slowly and painfully before his eyes, which is reasonable. As for Ludwig, he hadn't told me anything past that."

"I see…so it was something that I couldn't help them with…"

"But I can't help them either. So why would they tell me all this if not because I'm the Wild Card?"

"_At least they told you…"_

"Don't worry about it, Kiku. Now that you know, you can help them."

"…yes, yes indeed."

She nodded with a smile on her face, a smile that made Kiku smile as well. There was just…_**something**_ about her that would always make him smile, no matter what. After a few minutes, they had finished their lunches and looked up to see Francis at the door.

"Hello there, you two."

"Hello there, Francis."

"Is it OK if I borrow Charice for a minute? I need to ask her a few questions."

"Oh, OK." She turned her head. "Kiku?"

"I'll be fine." He smiled. "Now that I know what is wrong, I'll need to figure out what to do."

"Right." She smiled. "You have my number. Text me when you need anything."

"OK…"

**/= "Meteor Shower" by Owl City=/**

They were talking about how each of the group members had been taken into the Persona group _(they've yet to get a name)_, taking great interest in how Arthur and Alfred joined in the crowd, and he was surprised that neither Charice nor Li Xiao had joined in like the others had been.

"You didn't have to face yourself?" He asked.

"No. Neither did Li Xiao. In fact, I've been rallied up by him." She pointed out. "He had done this with Carlos before he got murdered."

"I see…Carlos had known this too?"

"Yes. According to Li Xiao, I must've inherited the stuff that he was able to do…though what that means, I'm not quite sure."

"Ce que…quite interesting."

"Yeah, yeah indeed." She sighed. "It was with Kiku that we learned that we can save people that have died."

"Save…? You didn't see it with Mathieu?"

"Actually, he fell into the world instead of being forced in." She pointed out. "So he wasn't killed horribly, thank god."

"I see…that's good." He smiled. "I didn't want to hear about it…"

"OK…I wasn't going to tell you anything, anyway."

He nodded in appreciation, smiling at the fact that Charice had thought about him _(and not as a pervert)_. He chuckled at the concerned smile on her face before turning his head and seeing a figure that was staggering toward them in exhaustion. Charice gasped as he collapsed into her arms.

"Feli-chan!" She gasped. "W-what's wrong?"

"_Ve…I'm tired…"_ He mumbled. _"I was trying to find a place to sleep…"_

"Oh, my baby." She kissed his forehead. "You were probably pushing yourself too hard this entire time…you need sleep…"

"_Ve…I know…"_

"Hold on…Francis, help me."

"Of course, of course…"

He straddled Feliciano's arms onto Charice's shoulders, and they both staggered toward the dormitories while making sure that he just doesn't pass out in the hallway. After a few minutes, they saw Rizal walking toward them with a confused look on his face.

"Kuya?" She blinked.

"Eh? Ate?" He turned to them _(a little tense toward Francis)_. "Hey, have you seen Ludwig?"

"Eh? You lost him?"

"No, I saw him go into his dorm room…but when I checked up on him a few minutes later, he left the door open and wasn't there anymore." He sighed. "I'm worried that he passed out somewhere."

"He might be back in his dormitory." Charice smiled. "We'll go look for Ludwig. You escort Feli-chan back there."

"All right. Text me when you find him.

She stared at them for a few minutes as she escorted Feliciano onto Rizal's arms and watched them waddle away before turning toward Francis, who shrugged, and headed off to find the wandering German who might've been anywhere. That's when she heard something.

"Hah?"

"Hm? What's wrong?" Francis paused.

"Hah~! It's just my iPod."

She lifted up the iPod and decided to turn it off, seeing that it died of battery power instead. She rolled her eyes and returned back to wobbling through the hallways. Suddenly, her iPod shot back on _(playing a different song?)_, and her blood froze. At the same time, she saw a Post-It on the nearest door handle.

"Eh?" Francis lifted up the Post-It. "The words are typed."

"On a Post-It?"

"Yeah…" He stared at it. _**"This is all I can do to protect you…can you forgive me?"**_

At the same time, she saw a strange mist coming out of the bottom of the door. Francis gestured her to move out of the way and threw the door open, being greeted by a huge wall of smoke. But for some reason, she didn't hear flames on the other side.

"Dry ice…?" She blinked.

"Stay here. I'll open the windows."

Charice stared Francis ran into the room, throwing the first window open with some difficulty _(it was locked, but by the looks of it Francis still had some magic skill on him)_. He took a few deep breaths before throwing up the other windows. The mist slowly aired out, and Francis did not leave.

"Francis?" She stepped in. _**"Francis?"**_

Charice stepped into the room and was immediately bombarded with the smell of blood. She was about to confirm the worst when she saw that Francis was on the stairway of the low descending room, his skin already pale. Nothing else had to alarm her about the body in the room.

He was face-up on the ground, his eyes fortunately closed, as four cuts dug deep in his body. She couldn't help but see the familiar curves and lines on the otherwise big figure: she had seen it on a map before. The mist finally cleared to reveal his face, and she froze.

It was Ludwig Beillschmidt.

Barely had five seconds of screaming happened that Li Xiao had literally _**slammed**_ himself on the doorway, looking down at the both of them. He quickly ran to Charice's side, holding her as she sobbed in fear and panic, his eyes turning slightly to Francis to see that he wasn't running anywhere.

"You're…not running."

"This is the same man that went after Arthur, isn't he?"

"…yes."

They stared at each other for a few minutes before Li Xiao dropped the whole conversation and looked back at Charice, who was still panicking about Ludwig's body. She shook her head and started to rub her face.

"We have to get the others…"

"They're all over the place." Li Xiao answered. "I was with Kiku, so he should be coming. But the others…"

"Let me handle this."

They turned to Francis who started muttering something underneath his breath. His fingertips were glowing _(nothing big, of course)_, leaving the other two to look at each other and wait in worried fear for the others to rush toward this location.

"This was different, Li Xiao."

"Different?" He blinked.

"I had a song on my iPod that I was listening to…and then it changed the minute I bumped into Feliciano." She looked up. "The murderer changed his target at the last minute."

"…this isn't good."

The others were suddenly swarming into the room within seconds. Antonio and Gilbert made no remarks, but the others were surprised to see Francis in the room, and that he had no intent of screaming bloody murder down the hallways telling the world that Germany was dead. As Arthur grilled him for information, the others turned to the body.

"Good god, bruder…you said you were OK." Gilbert shook his head. _**"FUCK!"**_

"Geez…after seeing the potato bastard like this, I'm suddenly not entertained." Lovino spat.

"God, I can't even imagine how much he suffered…"

"_No, he didn't suffer much."_

Li Xiao and Charice looked up to see Matthew walk between them and take a closer look at his body. As his fingers lightly skimmed over him, she saw his eyes were intent, as of looking for something. His fingertips were glowing, which could only mean one thing…

"_Look, there's a cut deep in his neck."_ He pointed at it. _"It's used by hunters to make merciful killings…quick and painless."_

"But it wouldn't explain the four cuts here." Li Xiao said, actually shivering. "It makes him look like a map of the Potsdam Agreement. And the blood…"

"_That's what I don't get…the cuts mean that he was still alive when this happened."_ Matthew stood up. _"It's like he went for a merciful killing and decided to be merciless at the last minute…"_

"So bruder made a spitting last comment, huh?" Gilbert chuckled.

"_That's what I want to assume…"_

His hands touched the board, erupting into a portal that was big enough for all of them to fit in. Gilbert and Antonio were the first people in, with Alfred and Kiku jumping in soon after. Charice was about to join them when she heard Arthur ending the conversation.

"You're seriously not planning on joining us, are you bloody frog?" He spat.

"Of course not. I plan to stay here with the body." Francis answered _(__serious__, for once)_. "Someone has to make sure that no one sees what happened, right?"

"Oh please, don't tell me you're going to sneak the bastard into a closet or something. _**He's BLOODY bleeding!"**_

"Oh, no no no…I'm not going to do something like that." He chuckled. "I'm doing something that you are quite familiar with."

"Tch…don't tell me that you're going to try using magic…?" Arthur shook his head with a sneer. "Please remember who uses the magic around here."

"And please remember who was the one who taught you?"

Francis' fingertips started glowing, telling Arthur that it was safe to leave him be. Everyone else went into the portal save for Charice, who looked worried toward Francis before stepping into the portal.

**/=+=/**

**I was going to do Soviet Union…and then my inner GerIta fangirl found the shotgun and the old Mary Sue fanfiction that I had DX**


	48. Into the Labyrinth

**OK OK, whatever whatever! The subplot's here, so whoopdedoo for you! Let's just get this over with… XD**

**/= "JUSTICE" by Umineko no Naku Koro Ni =/**

After all of the random outfits that the other worlds had been giving her, she was surprised that she was in her usual red attire the minute she jumped out. She looked up and saw that everyone was in their military uniforms and that they were looking around at their area. She looked up and saw…

Nothing.

"Um…where are we?" She looked around.

"I never saw the fog this thick before…" Li Xiao looked around as well. "Arthur, do you know what this is?"

"Extreme internal conflict, erupting from his sub consciousness." Arthur answered. "But this never happens in a normal environment…because the consciousness blocks these conflicts."

"So he has no consciousness?" Charice blinked. "That…makes no sense…unless-"

Everyone turned around.

"Unless it can erupt if Ludwig has amnesia."

"Yes…usually memories can suppress the sub consciousness." Arthur stated. "But…amnesia?"

"Yeah. He told me and Rizal that he has no memories of his past prior to being raised by Gilbert." She stated. "I asked him if he could try remembering something, and…well, that's when he started getting quiet."

"That's…totally unawesome." Gilbert sighed.

Barely had those words flowed out of his mouth when the clouds started to clear, revealing a gigantic labyrinth out of M. C. Ester. Or Yu-gi-oh, one of those two. She didn't have to say anything about when she heard a door open from above her, and she turned her head to see a rather interested Antonio peeking over them.

"Heeeey~! Check it out, I'm on the ceiling!"

"_**HAH?**_ But you're right over here, fucktard!"

Lovino turned to Antonio's body _(who is still next to Arthur?)_ and pushed him through. Sure enough, Antonio came sailing down the air and crash-landed into the ground in front of Kiku, scaring the crap out of him. That got Alfred's attention, who opened another door and ended up coming through another one.

"Well…that was messed up." Alfred blinked.

"_Wait…does that mean we're trapped in here?"_ Matthew panicked.

"Nope! Check it!" Charice lifted up her hand, revealing a tip of red string on her pinky. "Still intact!"

"So we can get out if need be…" Kiku looked around. "Now we need to find a way to navigate this area."

"You can't you know. I've tried…"

They all turned their heads to see a teenager dressed in white Templar robes leaning on one of the walls, staring upwards into the other doors that were all over the place. Charice instantly assumed that this was Ludwig _(he did look like it)_, but made no move to say anything, especially since Gilbert was there.

"Bruder?"

"Hello, Gilbert. I'm saddened to see that you have fallen in here as well." He sighed. "I've been wandering around here for years, trying to find the exit…yet they all seem to lead me to the same loopholes that I had travelled over and over again."

_Amnesia._ They all thought.

"Are you sure you went through all the doors?" Lovino spat.

"Look at the white marks on the doors. If it's marked, I've went through it." He stated. "I've been searching for a door I've never marked, to no avail."

"Well, that sucks~!" Antonio laughed. "I guess that means we'll have to start searching for doors that aren't marked as well!"

"_**NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!"**_ Lovino started shaking him. "You should be punched in the face!"

Through all that ruckus, Li Xiao and Charice approached the Ludwig…shadow…clone…thing…and tried their best not to remark on the fact that they looked so similar to each other. The truth was, Charice was never able to match up the fact that he was a child Ludwig. He was so…_**lean.**_

"Are you sure that you've been through all these doors?" Li Xiao asked.

"I've marked as many as I can." He answered. "I want to assume that I did."

"You couldn't have, for you are still here. This world is nothing more than a person's mind, and a mind is limitless." Li Xiao looked up. "You would be free if you had seen all the doors."

"Then which door did I miss?"

It was then that Gilbert fell through one of the walls. Everyone turned their heads to see that he had fallen into a hidden hallway, revealing about five or six other doors that weren't marked. The teenage Ludwig stood up in surprise as Gilbert started to rub his head.

"_Are you OK, Gilbert?"_

"Yeah…I'm totally awesome." He stood up. "What the hell is this place?"

"Ludwig's mind must be crumbling." Arthur remarked. "The walls keeping them up are falling apart and revealing more problems."

"We should check these doors anyway." Charice remarked. "That way, we can see if they lead anywhere."

Alfred led the way, opening one door and ended up in another hallway. Kiku's door revealed that it was attached to another door in the room. Arthur's door led up to a wall, and Lovino's door almost crushed him. Charice shook her head before going to open the door, seeing it to be locked.

"Well…that works." She sighed. "Got a locked door here!"

"T-that's the door that…"

The teen Ludwig reached into his shirt, pulled out a shining gold key hidden in his clothes, and unlocked the door. They all stared at the portal that was on the other side of the door for a few minutes before seeing the teenager run into the portal without a second thought. She looked up.

"Who wants to jump in first?"

**/= "JUSTICE" by Umineko no Naku Koro Ni =/**

They found themselves in a huge courtyard with a building in front of them, donned with blank banners and a strange gray setting. Alfred said it well: "dude, it's like we stepped into a black and white TV!" At least there wasn't any static disrupting the imagery, eh?

"I guess I can summarize it the best way…_**where the hell are we?"**_ Charice turned her head.

"Che. Looks like a German fort or something." Lovino looked up. "Saw something like this back in the wars. Never this enforced, though."

"_The air here is tense."_ Matthew blinked. _"Like there are soldiers here that are blocking something…"_

"Is that what the teen Luddy is looking for?" Charice asked. "Whatever this place is blocking?"

"Hold on…"

Arthur summoned his Persona to scan the area just as Charice felt her blood run cold. She looked upward and couldn't help but notice that there were soldier Shadows headed their way. Her fingers started to twitch.

"We got an incident."

**/= "Fighting of the Spirit" by Tales of Symphonia =/**

All of them charged in to attack the Shadows. Gilbert was about to join them when something caught him from the corner of his eye. He shifted his attention and saw his own Shadow staring at him, that smug look on his face and wearing that really unawesome outfit on him. He lifted a finger up to his lips and smirked.

"What, are you here to help me or something?" He found himself smiling. "Then stop being unawesome over there and earn your title of being me."

The Shadow made no statement, instead jumping into Gilbert's hand and allowing him to crush the card that formed. It quickly turned into a strange man dressed completely in red and wielding two swords. Gilbert couldn't help but chuckle at the image that appeared before him.

"Rakshasa!" He grinned. "Come on!"

The blade dug through about fifteen Shadows, killing them all instantly. Everyone turned their heads and saw the Prussian man grin as the Persona sank into his body. He took his hero pose.

"Hah! How awesome was that?" He chirped.

"…che. Now as awesome as you think, potato bastard."

"Oh, so now _**I'm**_ the potato bastard?" Gilbert glared.

"_**Once**_ a bastard, _**ALWAYS**_ a bastard!"

"_Oh, thank GOD…he said __bastard__…"_

Charice rolled her eyes for a few minutes before hearing the ground shake and the other Shadow soldiers sinking into the cracks. Matthew quickly held onto Charice as the whole place sank into a strange sense of silence.

_**["SOLDIERS!"]**_

"**GAH!"**

_**["REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS AT ONCE!"]**_

"That…sounded like Ludwig." Alfred looked up. "Do you think he's further inside?"

"I want to assume so…" Charice shivered. "I'd check, but my phobia's kickin' in…"

"Then I'll lead." Li Xiao lifted his head. "Let's go."

**/=+=/**

**Rakshasa**** is a demon of Hindu myth famous for disturbing rituals, desecrating graves, harassing priests, possessing people, and eating human flesh. They're also shapeshifters, illusionists and magicians. [Gilbert Beillscmidt - Strength]**

**So let's keep it all going~!**


	49. Hidden Within the Bitter Shells

**And now we go deeper into Ludwig's rather messed up mind! But then again, we really can't blame him for that, huh?**

**/= "JUSTICE" by Umineko no Naku Koro Ni =/**

"At least the Shadows aren't that hard~" Antonio chirped. "Our Personas can handle them with ease!"

"But there are so many of them, too…" Kiku said, worried. "There weren't that many in the other worlds."

"Shadows represent problems and questions in a person's mind." Arthur stated. "The more questions you have, the more Shadows you create."

"I guess you would have a lot of questions if you had memory loss." Charice sighed. "Though a lot of the Shadows here are faceless."

"Yeah, they kinda looked like really underdeveloped mannequins." Alfred laughed. "Or those nurses from Silent Hill or something!"

"_God, don't remind me…"_

Kiku was shaking for some reason, so the conversation was dropped and they headed deeper into the building. After a few minutes they heard a strange screeching, and they turned their heads to see a metal door slowly open before them.

"Well, that just screams of scary." Alfred blinked. "Which means that we should investigate!"

"_**Hell**__** to the FUCKING **__**NOOO!**__**"**_ Charice screamed. "Have you _**seen**_ all the movies and videos you've created? Going to examine strange noises end up with your head being chopped off!"

"**YEAH!"** Lovino spat. "Don't do it!"

"Ahahaha~! It might be Ludwig, for all we know!" Antonio chirped. "Come on, Alfred, let's check it out!"

"_**Dammit you FUCKING **__**FUCKTARDS!**_ Don't freakin' do i- fuck, they're going."

"I guess we have to go after them…"

The others watched as Alfred and Antonio just went trotting on inside the room, forcing Charice and Lovino to follow suit. There was nothing in the room that was worth viewing, past four pillars and concrete walls. Yet somehow Alfred was excited about this stuff.

"This definitely is a place where a bad guy would hide something!" He exclaimed.

"You think, America?" Antonio laughed. "Well, let's go look for it!"

"My god, you two really _**are**_ fucktards…"

Charice rolled her eyes and was about to mention something when the door slammed behind them. Lovino started pounding on the other side, and Charice could hear someone kicking the door. Meanwhile Alfred and Antonio were too busy trying to figure out just what the hell might be in here.

"Hey, you two! We're freakin' _**locked up**_ in here!" Lovino spat.

"Don't worry about it! It probably just needs a switch or something!" Alfred looked around.

Charice shook her head _(my god, they really ARE idiots)_ when she looked up to the concrete ceiling. There were strange pipes that were strewn all over the place, hidden around the single dimly lit light that was inside the room. She couldn't tell for sure, but there was something else in the ceiling too…

_**["All imperfects must be destroyed."]**_

"Eh?" She looked around. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Lovino sighed. "Don't tell me that you're going just as crazy as they are…"

_**["Blond hair…blue eyes…I must be perfect…this world must be perfect…"]**_

That's when she realized what was in the ceiling: it was vents to let air out of the room…or in. It was then that she heard the beginning of a long line of screams.

**/= "It's Coming" by HetaOni =/**

_Oh shi-_ **"Principality!"**

She grabbed Lovino's hand and summoned her Persona the minute a strange misty air erupted into the room. In seconds, the entire room was covered and her lungs started to burn. Before she could start gagging, she heard Principality cast a spell, and instantly she could breathe again.

_Poison gas?_ "Lovino! Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…good call." He stood up, his hands tightened around hers. "Wait…what about the othe-"

The screeching got louder, and they looked up to see purple demon-looking souls surround the entire room, leaving Charice to scream bloody murder and almost letting go of Lovino. Almost. He latched on as she started to swat them away with as much effectiveness as giving a German nonalcoholic beer…to say the least.

"**What the ****hell**** is going on?" **Lovino asked / spat.

"_**I-I don't know!**_ _**Gah!**_ Get away from me!" Charice looked up. "Look, over there!"

"What? I don't see anything!"

He couldn't see it, but she could: a strange orb of light that was in the middle of the screaming spirits. Before she knew it, her feet were flying forward toward the light, seeing it being pulled away by the spirits. Lovino's protests weren't even being registered anymore. All she had to do…was…touch it…!

***CRASH!***

…

…

…

**/= "Prayer" by Pokemon Kanto =/**

"_Are you OK, Heilrich? You are comfortable…?"_

"_Yes. Thank you, Roderich."_

_He smiled quietly as the man left the room, allowing him to finally look at himself. Here he was, the remnants of what he used to be, recreated into the pathetic mess that he was now. Roderich was still clinging onto the hope that he would be rebuilt the same way. Hopeful, but naïve of him. Maybe he was just trying to be a little nicer to-_

…

…

…

**/= "JUSTICE" by Umineko no Naku Koro Ni =/**

"Charice, snap the hell out of it!"

She blinked, realizing that the gas was dissipating and clearing out the room. From the corner of her eye, she could see Alfred was conscious, his jacket and shirt over his mouth just long enough for her to register the…whatever that was…and get the gas out. The door swung open behind them.

"_Is everyone OK in here?"_ Matthew panicked.

"I'm OK." She turned her head. "Al?"

"I'll live. I didn't breathe that much of it." He stood up. "Just a few fresh breaths of air and I'll be fine."

"Speaking of which, where's-"

He didn't have to say much. Antonio was lying down just a few feet away from Alfred, unmoving from his position. He had been standing right where two air vents had been positioned and took the whole thing by surprise. She could feel his grip tighten on her hand.

"_Antonio…?"_

"This room isn't safe." Arthur called to them. "Get yourselves out of there and THEN talk!"

Lovino threw himself to Antonio's side, allowing Alfred to grab the other side and drag him out of the door. The minute the door closed, they slammed to the other side of the hallway and watched as Lovino started shaking the hell out of Antonio's lifeless body.

"Hey! **HEY!** Dammit, you tomato sucking _**BASTARD**_, wake the fuck up! There's no time to be sleeping around here!"

He stayed perfectly motionless, and Charice can actually start seeing the Italian tear up.

"Antonio? _**ANTONIO!**_ God dammit, we can't be wasting any fucking time here! Wake up already!" He was sobbing at that point. _**"Fucking hell!**_ _D-dammit…"_

Charice stood there in silence for a few minutes before hearing a strange wail echo from behind her. She turned her head and was instantly slammed in the face by one of those wailing spirits from before…yet there was no damage. Her head turned to see that no one had seen that, instead watching it possess Antonio. Instantly life came back into his lungs, scaring the crap out of…well, _**everyone**_ at this point.

"_**GYAH!"**_ Lovino jumped. "The fuck?"

"_Eh?"_ Antonio looked up. "Oh! Hola, amigo!"

"**Hola? **_**HOLA?**_ **ARE YOU ****FUCKING**** SERIOUS? **_**YOU WERE DEAD FOR A FEW MINUTES!"**_ Lovino screamed. "How the hell can you…just…blow it all off like that…?"

"…I'm sorry Boss Spain made you worry." He laughed, petting Lovino. "I'm all right now."

"…_fine…"_ He spat. _"Fucking bastard."_

Meanwhile, Charice wondered just what the hell happened there.

**/=+=/**

"So is that what happened?"

"Yeah. In that room, there were all these ghosts wailing around this one strange orb of light that no one was able to see. When I touched it, I was able to see one of Ludwig's memories." She blinked and looked at her hands. "It was warm…and it chased off the ghosts."

"Then we're indeed in his sub consciousness." Arthur looked up. "Ludwig had died once before, so I wouldn't be surprised on the state of his mind…I just didn't think it would be this bad."

"This…bad?"

"The fact that we entered a world created not by his conscious state. We are literally in the depths of his mind." He sighed. "A messed up one, at that."

"Messed up…yeah, I guess having remnants of gas chambers do that." Li Xiao walked into the conversation. "Doesn't this place remind you of the war?"

"I was never on the European continent, so don't ask me." Charice lifted up her arms. "Arthur?"

"I've only seen one of these buildings." He shook his head. "Never again."

"How bad, if I may ask?" Li Xiao tilted his head.

"You've seen the pictures, but only those who were there can truly understand." Arthur sighed, looking at the hallways. "The entire place smelled of rotting corpses. There were crematoriums that burned the dead daily. There were bodies stacked in wheelbarrows like they were holding food for horses. The people trapped there were skin and bones…many lifeless."

Charice just blinked. She heard of it a lot, and only knew of it by pictures and one name: **Holocaust**.

"They weren't just Jewish people. Gypsies, POWs, homosexuals, the mentally insane…if the higher ups didn't like you, you were sent there to die." Arthur rubbed his forehead. "The complete opposite of how Germany is now."

"Yeah…" Li Xiao looked up. "Speaking of the mentally insane…"

They all looked up and saw that they were inside an extremely white building, with no color in it whatsoever. Each door, upon checking them, were leading onto to the wall on the other side, so they decided that they weren't going to do anything about it and head further down the hallway. Charice clung onto Li Xiao with all her life, and he made no move to push her off.

It was then that they found themselves in a gigantic operating room. The blades were still on their racks and there was an operating table just in the middle. Of course, the Japanese man found it just a little unnerving to see this _(and who wouldn't?)_ and backed up. The lights suddenly flickered before revealing that the table was missing.

"Well…that was unnerving." Li Xiao sighed. "What was that about?"

"Wish I knew, dude." Alfred looked around. "Uh…hey, where'd Arthur go?"

"…oh shi-"

Charice darted her head up to the ceiling and saw a rather traumatized Arthur strapped to the table on the ceiling, his hands pinned and unable to summon Persona. It was then that they started hearing wailing, and they turned their head to see that a Shadow doctor dripping blood started to slumber and crawl upon the walls.

_**["OOOOHHH…a new specimen…let's see how it bleeds…"]**_

Five seconds later, she felt warm blood on her cheeks and a rusty smell fill her nostrils. Alfred started screaming as a battle suddenly raged against the doctor. She was about to move when she realized something: she couldn't. One, her phobia was kicking in…and two, _her hands were bound._

**/= "Fighting of the Spirit" by Tales of Symphonia =/**

"**W-what?"** She blinked. "How did we get into strait jackets?"

She looked up and saw that everyone was in strait jackets, trying hard to get free. None of them were able to summon their Personas or their weapons, and soon they were forced to see the doctor Shadow rip another part out of Arthur's stomach. Li Xiao stepped forward.

"All right, stay back."

Charice was about to say something when Li Xiao lifted his foot, revealing a card underneath it, and crushed it. Instantly, Lu Dongbin took control of his legs and he started to run up the walls toward the levitating doctor Shadow. With a chuckle, he jumped off it and delivered a well-aimed kick to its face. It exploded into a huge explosion of wailing ghosts, which swarmed the room. At the same time, he saw a small light hidden by the tortured faces.

"_**Li Xiao!"**_ He heard Charice scream. "Crash that! It'll get rid of all of them!"

He didn't hesitate. He smashed it with his feet.

**/= "Prayer" by Pokemon Kanto =/**

_It was at that moment when he saw her._

_She was so perfect. The way she walked, the way she would act all shy around people that thought she was cute. As he hid behind one of the buildings, she was talking to her grandfather about the pretty flowers that plagued the area. It was then that he noticed it: it was the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was her grandfather…?_

_Does that mean that she is a nation? Just like him?_

_He felt his heart soar at the realization. Not only will his love be able to withstand time, but he didn't have to worry about human vitality getting in the way. If she is a nation, she had to be by his side. He has to protect her from now on. Hopefully, he will approve._

**/= "JUSTICE" BY Umineko no Naku Koro Ni =/**

Li Xiao landed on the ground before seeing the strait jacket vanish from his body. He looked up and saw Arthur as he crashed into Alfred's panicking arms, and saw a slow spirit come out of nowhere and possess his body, bringing life back into his lungs.

"Arthur!"

"…_Al?"_

"Thank god…that bastard didn't do too much to you…" Alfred rubbed foreheads with him. "Can you walk?"

"O-of course I can, you git!" Arthur jumped out of his arms. "I-I can walk…!"

"Well, that was totally unawesome! I wanted to do that!" Gilbert spat.

"Too bad. You should've called it." Li Xiao laughed. "Now then, we should get going."

After a few minutes, they walked forward through the hallway that warped back into a German office building. They were all having such a cheery conversation _(surprising Charice)_ when she realized that Li Xiao and Kiku hadn't left her side, occasionally glaring at each other for no reason other than to be men…she guessed.

"I saw a memory back there."

"Eh?"

"Back with the doctor. When I broke that light, I saw something." Li Xiao stated. "It was a boy falling in love with a girl at first sight."

"That's a strange memory for Ludwig to have." Kiku blinked. "Did you know any of them?"

"All I know was that the Roman Empire was in there, and he was the girl's grandfather." The Chinese man answered. "I want to assume that Ludwig was probably the boy, but-"

"Wait…would that mean that Ludwig is…is…_**straight?"**_

Li Xiao stood there for a few minutes while Charice _(and Kiku? Really?)_ started to panic and scream bloody murder at the mere thought of that. After a few minutes of giving up, he looked up and realized something rather noteworthy.

"Where did everyone go?"

They both looked up and saw that everyone was gone. The only problem was that they hadn't heard anything and the hallway goes completely straight. Instead, there was a young boy walking nervously around in a circle.

"Hey, that's the boy." Li Xiao blinked.

"Hey." She went up to him. "Are you OK?"

"…_I'm scared."_

"Scared? Of what?"

"That door." He pointed at the end of the hallway. "I'm…I'm looking for something, and it's over there…but I'm too scared to look."

"What if we come with you? We're heading in that direction anyway." Kiku smiled.

"T-thank you."

Charice quickly scooped him up and proceeded to lead the way. Once they saw the door, she felt him shiver in her arms and a strange smell entered her nostrils. It wasn't blood, but…it was strange, nonetheless.

"_I'm scared…"_

"Don't worry. We'll protect you~!" She chirped. "Right, boys?"

"Hai."

"Shi de." Li Xiao looked up. "I'll go first."

"No, let me. I was his ally during the war." Kiku walked to the door. "If there is anything resembling Ludwig on the other side, perhaps he'll be more mellow talking to me."

"All right then." Charice took a breath. "Here we go."

**/=+=/**

**READ AND REVIEW CAUSE WE GOT CRAZY STUFF NEXT CHAPTER!**

**Anyway, if something in this chapter makes you uneasy, tell me. Most likely, everyone is uneasy about it and I'll be sure to change it if need be.**


	50. The Halves that Keep Us Whole

**And now we hit chapter FIFTY! The big 5-0! Awesome, awesome awesome! Almost like Prussia…OK, sure we'll say that.**

**/= "Autumn Leaves Dancing In the Heaven Far" by HetaOni =/**

The room was nothing more than a throne room filled with Nazi banners and a rug. There was just something in it that was just unnerving her, though…maybe it was the random German symbols. Maybe not. She couldn't put her finger on it. As they walked closer in, they saw what they were looking for.

"Gilbert…! Arthur!" Kiku darted his head around.

"_**Papa! PAPA!"**_ Charice went flying to his body. "What happened, papa?"

"_They're all unconscious…?"_ Li Xiao looked up and tensed. "Guys…!"

They all looked up and saw a rather tall young man staring at the banner in front of him. Charice could barely see it, but it resembled a map of some sorts. It was then that she realized who the man in front of the map was. She had to know: the boy was shivering in her arms.

_**["Ah…so you brought him…perfect."]**_

_I just played into something, didn't I?_ "What the hell is going on?"

_**["It's for the eternal strive of true perfection!"]**_ The Shadow answered, echoing in a way that creeped her out just a little bit. _**["Humans cannot achieve it, but we can. For we are nations, born to strive for eternal glory for all of time and space!"]**_

"Ludwig…?" Kiku stood up.

_**["I have risen and fallen from grace so many times…but I will rise again and stay in the realms of the God above."]**_ He pointed to the sky. _**["For that is my true purpose…"]**_

"Eh?" Charice darted her head to the others. "Kiku! Li Xiao! Get the boy and the others back!"

Charice tossed the boy to Li Xiao and looked up to see the German Shadow had warped into the sky, laughing insanely as the clouds started to grow upon him. As it faded, she was face-to-face with the image of a metal beast on fire and leaking lava, the German's human form pinned onto the chest the same way Kiku's Shadow was the dragon's head.

_And people wonder why the hell I'm scared of Germans…_

**/= "The God of Melodicspeedmetal" by HetaOni =/**

_**["I AM A SHADOW…THE TRUE SELF…"]**_

Charice tensed up, her nerves trying to get the hell out of there, as the monster roared up above her head and she could feel the heat rolling down her back. She could hear footsteps echoing from behind her, and saw Li Xiao and Kiku quickly dash to her side. Which was good, concerning that her nerves were starting to fail.

_**["ALL IMPERFECTS MUST BE DESTROYED…I CANNOT AFFORD ANY FLAW IN THE SYSTEM!"]**_

"Since when did he get so obsessed about perfection…?" Li Xiao charged.

"Bad parenting! I mean, come on, he's been raised by Mr. Awesome-Pants over there!" Charice jumped over a crater. "How are the others?"

"They will be fine. Arthur's coming out of unconsciousness and will take care of the others." Kiku nodded. "We will handle Germany."

"I know you can, but _**how can I?**_ I can't concentrate long enough to make a Persona!" She shivered. "God, is this how Feli-chan feels all the time?"

"Well then, snap out of it!" Li Xiao screamed. "Your phobia's keeping us back here! We need you to focus!"

Charice nodded, holding her breath and looking up to the German Shadow that was before her. She heard a bit of rustling and mumbling from behind, and saw the others charge into battle with guns blazing _(mainly Alfred, but you know what I mean)_. Her fingers were twitching hard over her poleaxe.

_Come on, come on, come on, come onnnnnn…!_ She took a deep breath. _If you're not going to be using Persona, just…whip him over the head or something!_

She charged, screaming and swinging right over the Shadow's head. Charice was able to land a few hits before the Shadow retaliated, throwing a stream of fire that reeked of darkness and threw everything back. His metal claws kept her in place and hung her helplessly in the air as the human face licked his lips.

_**["AH…YOU, MY DEAR, ARE WHAT I LIKE TO CALL SECOND BEST."]**_

Li Xiao shook his head and tried to regain his balance before seeing the Shadow's other hand reach out and caress her leg. Through the bit of fog, he could've sworn he heard faint whimpering and panicked flailing.

_**["DIDN'T YOU EXPERIENCE THIS SO LONG AGO…? DON'T YOU LIKE IT? SOON, YOU'LL BE PART OF THE PERFECT SUBJECT…"]**_

His eyes widened and saw the metal claw move to reach up her skirt, causing her to scream and flail again. He could even see the tears going down her face. Before he could even think he was already in the air, kicking the claws out of the way and grabbing her as they fell onto the floor.

"Charice! _Charice."_ He grabbed her flailing arms. _"Look at me, look at me. You're OK now, all right? Look at me. __**Look at me.**__ See? I'm not him."_

She calmed down just a little bit, clinging onto his shirt and sobbing onto his chest. He looked up from their position and saw Gilbert and a rather _**enraged**_ Antonio standing in front of everyone else. The look on his face made Charice cringe again: she had only seen it once before, a long time ago.

"Geez, in any other situation, I'd be proud." Gilbert sighed. "But that is totally unawesome."

"Awesome or not…that bastard laid a hand on my daughter." Antonio had a psycho grin on his face. _**"I hope he knows how to withstand the wrath of the Spanish Inquisition."**_

"_Oh god, please don't make the joke-"_

"_**NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!"**_

"_Crap. All right, let's keep going."_

Everyone charged toward the monster, flailing their Personas around and giving them huge dents in the body. Li Xiao turned back to Charice, who was calming down but still suffered through the phobia. The fear translated into her eyes, and he took a small breath while he squeezed her hand.

"I'm right here." He stated. "I'm not leaving."

Another hand touched her and she flinched. They turned their heads and saw the little boy staring at her with concern in his eyes. It was then that they saw something else: familiarity. He knew who they were.

"I…I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"…Ludwig…?" Charice smiled. "Your Shadow is just insane. But he didn't hurt me much."

"Thank god…"

"Hey, I thought I told you to stay in the back." Li Xiao stated.

"I can't just stand here while everyone else suffers by a creature of my creation." The boy spat. "I need to do something!"

It was then that she felt something throb in her hand, and she looked up to see the Death Arcana had appeared before them. It was still upside down, but there was color slowly appearing on the image. She looked up and saw the boy standing right in front of them, his feet ready to dash. Sure enough, he started screaming and charging toward him.

"_**Hey-!"**_

"The card...it's spinning!" Li Xiao grabbed her wrist. "Smash it! Now!"

Charice blinked to snap back into it before crushing it in her hand. Instantly, the boy jumped into the air and changed forms, turning into a little girl with a light blue dress. Charice paused for a minute as s/he levitated over the Shadow with her/his finger in the air. _Did I just turn him into a woman…?_

"You who represented me…begone!" He spat. _My god, he sounded like a girl too…_ **"DIE FOR ME!"**

It quickly began to rain spears and cards, slicing the Shadow into ribbons. Instead of the clouds forming away from them, Charice couldn't help but notice that it was the wailing souls that she had been seeing all over the place. The big figure faded as the boy turned back into looking like a boy.

**/= "Parting Song" by Pandora Hearts =/**

"You who represented me…do you remember me?"

The Shadow looked up at the boy as he walked to each other. Gilbert seemed to be a little squeamish about it, and only Charice and Li Xiao knew why: they had seen the past and knew that they looked exactly the same. In fact…would they be the same? The Shadow stared for a few minutes before nodding.

_**["You are…me. The part that I have been seeking this entire time."]**_

"And you are me. The part that I have been too afraid to talk to." The boy looked up. "You were harsh, violent, the many things that scared me…yet at the same time you were brave, unafraid, the things that I wanted to be."

_**["And what of you? You are the final piece that I looked for since the beginning of my birth."]**_ The Shadow stated. _**["You were the past that I never knew, the memories of a happier time that I have never experienced by memory."]**_

"The stronger part of us…can you make me stronger so that I can protect the ones that I care for?"

_**["Only if you promise to give me the last few pieces that I need to be complete…I need to know why I keep fighting."]**_

"You don't know?"

_**["I can't remember. My mind is as cracked as the world around us. I fight only because there was something there that I needed to do. There's a gap there…that I need filled."]**_

"I will help you. For us."

They stood a few feet away from each other as they fused with each other, the purple cloud forming into the blond girl that she had seen before and mixing with the now upright card in her hand. She smiled: a job well done, really. It was then that she heard the screeching.

**/= "It's Coming" by HetaOni =/**

"_W-what's that sound…?"_

"Hey, Antonio! What the hell is up with you, you bastard?"

"Arthur? What's going on?"

Charice turned her head and saw that they had turned into something resembling possessed vampires. She looked up and saw that the same ghosts that she had been seeing before were now descending onto the small Ludwig, screaming in languages that she couldn't catch, but nothing pierced the screaming that she heard out of that boy.

"The time has come for your punishment…" Antonio hissed.

"What have you done to us…?" Arthur shuffled forward.

"Wait a minute, this doesn't make any sense!" Alfred ducked a few ghosts. "I thought these things were supposed to be Shadows! What the hell are these things?"

"…guilt." Li Xiao gasped.

Charice was about to say something when she saw the ghosts swarm around the poor boy who was now calling for mercy among the rest of the crowd. Before she knew it, she saw it: a faint light that was buried with the boy. She took a deep breath and charged toward the crowd, smashing the light in her hands.

**/=+=/**

**Alice**** is the ultimate Death Persona that is used a lot in the Persona games. She is usually associated with the Alice from ****Alice in Wonderland**** or with the legend of an Aryan girl who died and acquired so much magical powers that she went insane. People apparently use Alice to discipline their children. [Ludwig Beillschmidt - Death]**

**Damn, I have to put up the rating now, huh?**


	51. The Holy Roman Empire

**Great…a MEMORY CHAPTER! Hope you like these, girls…cause this is the meat of HRE!**

**/= "I Thought She Knew" by Nsync =/**

"_Become one with me!"_

"_Nooooo!"_

_He slowed down as he watched her run away from him in fear. After a few minutes, he stopped entirely and stared at himself in the water's reflection. What was he doing? He was scaring her, and yet he was still going with this? Would she even agree to this if he went this way…? He would literally have to declare war on her and then…_

_No. No, he can't do that. Why would he fight her to get her in order to protect her? He shook his head. He needed another way…_

"**=== + === + ==="**

_So many battles…so many wars…he was so small to deal with them…_

_He wandered closer to his home, confused on whether or not he should be proud of this or not. Sure, he got more territory and he had gotten stronger, but for some reason he wasn't happy anymore. He had no idea why anymore. He approached the door to Roderich's room and slowly opened it._

"_I'm home…I brought them under control-"_

_He froze._

_Cause standing just a few feet away from them was __**her**__._

_He stared at her for a few minutes, watching her clean the room with a push broom that was bigger than she was with tedious movements, mumbling something to herself that he couldn't hear with the fact that his heart is beating too hard for him to hear anything at all. Slowly, he reached out and pulled her bow, watching her turn and see him close the door. He peeked out, scaring her._

"_**WAAAAAH!**__ I'm so sorry! I'll do anything, just please don't eat me!"_

_The fact that she was here…the fact that he can see her all the time…the thought of it made him so happy that he dashed out of the room and proceeded to squeal himself into sleep with pure ecstasy, forcing Roderich to come in and demand that he quiet down so that he can write his next symphony._

…

"_**DAAAAMITTTT**_ DOITSU-KI REALLY **IS** STRAIGHT!"

_["Really? __**THAT'S**__ what you're thinking?"]_

"Damn, you're just as crazy as that Hungarian bitch."

Charice turned her head and saw Lovino staring at her with a look that didn't seem to mean that he was too happy about it. She knew the other voice was Li Xiao, but she didn't see him at all. After a few minutes, she saw something that looked like Li Xiao next to her, only he was in broken pieces of fire. She flinched.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Who the hell are you talking too?"

"You don't…?"

_["By the look of it, I'm seeing this from a different viewing plane than you guys. Strange, really. But let's not think about it."]_

"…sure…"

"**=== + === + ==="**

_He was always the one who liked walking around. It helps to clear the mind with all of the burdens that the world had to enforce upon him. As he walked through all of the familiar walkways of the house, he couldn't help but feel something was there behind him. He turned around and saw __**her**__ walking toward him and…_

"_W-w-w-what are you wearing?"_

"_Ve~~~don't you like it, Holy Rome?"_

…

"…Ve?"

"What, you didn't notice it? That's my brother!"

"…wait…that's Feli-chan? And…this guy is Ludwig? So…Ludwig liked…Feliciano when he was…"

"You didn't notice it? You're extremely stupid! Hell, **I** noticed this!"

_["That's Feliciano…wow, I'm surprised I didn't see it ei-"]_

"_**YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!**__**"**_

"**=== + === + ==="**

"_I…I want to give this to you again…" He lifted up his hand. "Will…will you join me in taking over this world?"_

_He saw her back up in fear before shaking her head slowly. He didn't get it. Did they not spend every waking moment together? Were they not friends? Why did she say no? What was going on? Why couldn't she do this? She must do this, she has to do this!_

"_Tell me why!" He grabbed her shoulders. "Why won't you do this, Italy? Please, you must tell me why!"_

"…_to protect you!"_

_He froze as she started crying, making him realize just what he was doing. He quickly let her go, seeing her stumble back and sniffle a little bit more._

"_I've seen Grandpa Rome…he was too big to handle, and so his back was completely covered by scars all the time…" She cried. "I…I don't want that to happen to you…I like you just the way you are…"_

_She lightly took his hand, looking down at the fingers that she was holding. He had no idea what to think, before he turned and busted out of there in a panic._

"Geez, even when he was young, he was a douchebag…"

"Kyaaaaa~~~they're so cute together~!"

"**=== + === + ==="**

_War…the war was always the things that had to take him back. He never wanted to go back and fight, now that he had Italy in his house, but alas he had to. As he sat and waited for his armies to show, he looked at the painting that he held in his hand…the paining that he made of the only girl for him…and knew that this had to stay behind._

_He had to leave without seeing her again…it would hurt him too much. He desperately wanted to, but he knew that if he did so, he would somehow convince himself not to leave and leave his armies to fend for themselves. No, his people needed him. And as he looked up and saw Italy walk toward her in confusion, he felt his heart crack again._

"**=== + === + ==="**

_This was it…this was the end of Holy Rome._

_He looked up and heard the troops wandering around him, ready for their leader to come and deliver the final blow. The sky above him was crystal clear and shining blue, and he couldn't help but wonder what Italy was doing at this moment. Was she cleaning the floors? Making the food? Thinking about him? Wondering when he was coming home…?_

_He wanted to cry, but there were too many soldiers around him…too many to taint his image. Losing the war meant nothing anymore. He wanted to cry because he broke his promise. He promised her that he was going to come home, winner or not. Now she'll never know what happened to him. Would she wait forever? Give up and move on? What would happen if she would wait…?_

"…_Italy…" Can you smile for me one more time…?_

_A shadow loomed over him, and he closed his eyes. It was all over. Hopefully, God would be more generous to her…_

***SHANK!***

…

**/= "A Brighter Day" by Trauma Team=/**

When they came back to the real life, everyone saw Charice sobbing lightly to herself as the other two looked up toward the souls as they vanished from Ludwig's position. All of the screaming vanished into the light, and formed a Star of David that sank into the boy's arms. He kissed the star and wrapped it around his neck.

"_Never forget…"_ He whispered. He turned around to the others. "I…I can't thank you enough."

"Don't be too generous about this, you potato bastard." Lovino folded his arms. "I just got dragged into this."

"Bruder…" Gilbert walked toward him. "Are you OK?"

"…I remember everything now." He answered. "My past…all the questions that I had…I know now."

"So you know about Feliciano?" Li Xiao chuckled. "And…apparently what you had for _her?"_

"Her?" Alfred blinked.

"Her?" Antonio laughed. "Awww…you thought Ita-chan was a woman~?"

"_S-shut up…"_ He turned to Charice. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine." She wiped a tear from her face. "I'm kinda emotional, but really, I'd be bawling at this point if I didn't know that you were alive."

"Yeah…" He walked toward her. "I want to thank you for doing this for me."

"It's fine…it's fine…" She lifted him up in her hands. "But stop worrying about me, you have Feli-chan to deal with! You still love him, right?"

"…_um…"_

"**No."** Li Xiao lifted him up. "You're forbidden from holding him."

"_**WHYYYYYYY?"**_

As they were talking, the world around them changed. The chamber halls of death faded away into simple rocks, and when the transaction was over, they found themselves in a misty version of Berlin right next to the Berlin Wall. Odd enough, Gilbert found himself on the other side, standing in front of the biggest hole of the wall. He calmly stepped through.

"Well, that was awesome." He grinned. "What was that about?"

"The conflict was so great inside Ludwig that it destroyed his consciousness when he was killed." Arthur looked around. "We fell into what was left of his sub consciousness, which hid his memories of his childhood days deep within the guilt that he was suppressing of his countrymen's actions and hence was being run by his Shadow."

"So upon defeating the Shadow and restoring his memories, you're saying that his consciousness is reconstructing itself?" Li Xiao asked.

"Yes." He smiled. "If everything wasn't as messed up as before, we would've landed here instead."

"Though why is everything misty?" Kiku looked around. "I would think that it'd be clear to represent no conflict."

"No…there's…one more."

They turned their heads to see that Ludwig had turned back into his old form, rubbing his face and blushing just a little bit. At that notion, Charice squealed bloody murder and clung onto him like he was an Italian, accidentally throwing Matthew into the wall in the process. Alfred was entertained.

"We have to go back!" She chirped. "So you can tell everything to Feli-chan!"

"I-I can't just tell everything straight forward, Charice!" He stammered. "It's not that easy!"

"But you'll have to do it _**sometime…"**_ She whined. "Riiiiiight?"

"…l-let's just focus on getting out of here."

"_I found the exit."_

"…did someone say something?"

"_I-It's over here!"_

They turned and saw that the hole that Gilbert had walked through was the ticket out of there. Charice approached it when a figure suddenly appeared in front of it, causing her to scream and fly back, generally getting everyone's attention.

"_**Ce que…can't you be a little more discrete than that?"**_

"Francis?" She looked in. "Wow, you can see us!"

"_**Of course I can. This is a two-way portal! Have you found Germany?"**_

"Yeah, he's with us now!"

"_**Good, good! You'll be pleased to know that five minutes have passed since you walked in."**_

"_Five minutes that felt like fucking hours…"_ Lovino mumbled.

"_**The portal is stable and you can come back here freely."**_

"All right! Let's go home!" Alfred stretched. "I'm in the mood for some hero fries and a Coke!"

"Meaning you're in the mood for a heart attack, bloody git?"

"At least I'm paying for it!"

"Ahahaha! So it's a date then? Maybe we should go, Lovi-chan!"

"**IT'S LOVINO!"**

Everyone was talking / arguing with themselves as they entered through the portal. Ludwig looked at the portal for a few minutes before getting a reassuring pat from Charice, allowing him to start walking through.

"I see that everything's been sorted out."

They turned their heads to see that a teenage Holy Roman Empire was standing before them, and that the misty streets of Berlin were now populated with people that she had seen from Ludwig's memories. The German smiled in response.

"Yeah…and I fully remember you now."

"You fully remember yourself, first of all. We're one and the same, remember? Or have you forgotten _**that**_ too?"

"There are still a few gaps that I cannot fill, but what I know is what I need." He stated. "I'm glad that I remember you."

"I'm glad as well."

She watched as the teenager Holy Roman Empire transformed into a white Tectonic Knight with masks over his face, and sank deep into Ludwig's body. He smiled and held the Star Necklace that he had been granted. He turned to the portal.

"_Never forget."_ He mumbled as he walked through.

"…_but always forgive."_ Charice followed suit.

**/=+=/**

As she walked through, she saw that the others were gathering around the area and explaining to Francis what had happened inside the other world. She turned her head and saw Li Xiao and Kiku kneeling around Ludwig's body, waiting for her to make it come full cycle. When she touched him, she was grateful to feel the warmth under her fingertips. At least this man had the courtesy to take in a large deep breath and open his eyes slowly instead of darting upwards and scaring the crap out of all of them.

"…_Doitsu."_ Kiku leaned forward. _"Are you all right?"_

"…yes, I'm fine." He sat up slowly. "Did all that…?"

"All that happened, Ludwig." Li Xiao stated. "Everything. And we all saw it."

"And we're willing to bash in people's heads in case someone decides to peep about it~" Charice chirped.

He mumbled something to himself before standing up, causing the others to chirp and go over to the man that was now OK. She turned her head and saw Francis smiling and standing next to one of the desks, beckoning her to come closer. She was weary, but since there were others in the room…

"So how'd you take their news of what happened?" She asked.

"I didn't have to take it in, you see. I saw everything happen."

"…you WHAT?"

"That portal over there…it allowed me to see everything that happened to all of you. Maybe it's because of my magic, but I was able to witness many of the events that you have seen." He stated. "Unfortunately, I haven't seen any…personal events that might've come from the past, but…"

"Well, if you must know…we found out that Ludwig over there had a past as a kingdom…the Holy Roman Empire, and that-"

"Hm? The Holy Roman Empire?"

"Yeah, um…he was dissolved when another kingdom defeated him…t-they didn't say who it was, so…"

"Perhaps it was something better left buried."

"Yeah, just a minor detail and what not."

If she had been paying attention, she would've seen a depression loom over his eyes. He smiled for a little bit before pulling something out of his pocket.

"It fell out when you were in there, so I thought I would hold it for you."

"Eh? Oh, my iPod! Thanks!"

She got it and looked at the screen, confused that there was something still playing on the iPod. She stared at him for a few minutes.

"Didn't you bother to turn this off first?"

"Ce que? But it was off."

Wait a minute…

The iPod was locked, so he couldn't have just accidentally knocked it on. She grabbed her headphones and unraveled it, listening to the song that was playing. Five seconds later, Li Xiao was quickly by her side as she tried desperately to turn it off, hearing the screeching of the song before it stopped completely. The scream that came out of her mouth turned everyone's heads. Li Xiao shook his head.

"_Dammit…I didn't think this would happen…he couldn't have been that strong to do it again…"_

"W-what's going on?" Kiku asked.

"Ludwig was the _**decoy**_." Li Xiao spat. "He wanted us preoccupied with him in order to get the next victim!"

"Wait a minute…like, two victims in one day?" Gilbert was shaking. "That's freakin' _**unawesome!"**_

The whole room went into a panic as Charice began to shiver. Who was this guy's actual target…?

**/= "It Only Hurts" by Default =/**

She wandered through the hallways, curious on who the victim might've been and yet not wanting to know at all. But still, she had to save him in time. They wasted five times saving Ludwig, so who knows what five minutes means to a dead body? Charice could barely hear Li Xiao walking in a quick, quiet pace behind her as they headed through the rooms. She stopped.

"This one. This is where the music is coming from." She held her nose. "God, the blood is horrible."

"I'll go in first, then. Stay behind me."

Li Xiao opened the door quickly, gasped loudly _(so maybe he was holding back a scream)_ and almost retched, making Charice know that this was utterly horrible. She slowly walked in and was instantly bombed by the smell of blood. Through that, she saw the victim and instantly saw the difference.

Unlike the other victims that had a sense of pattern of how they died, this one was horribly mutilated. His face was plastered with horror all over his face, scared of what had happened to him. His heart was literally carved out of his body, his blood covering all over the room with the words _**"Waiting only gives you pain"**_ over the body. Odd enough, he was also surrounded by bloody daisies, as if the murderer actually cared enough to give him a proper death room.

Charice started sobbing, causing Li Xiao to quickly catch her as they dropped to the ground. Footsteps started storming toward the place as Ludwig finally reached the place. He stared at it with fear all over his face before he screamed bloody murder, causing her to sob even more.

It was Feliciano Vargas.

**/=+=/**

**Yes, the Holy Roman Empire is Ludwig's Persona and he still doesn't remember kissing Feliciano. Har de har. REVIEW!**


	52. Living on a Castle on a Cloud

**So Ludwig was a decoy for the murderer to attack Feliciano. What are they going to do now?**

**/= [DAY 66] =/**

Ludwig was sobbing over Feliciano's body the minute the others got in there. Li Xiao was looking up for Charice, who was refusing to see the body again. And no one could blame her. Matthew took the brave first step inside, closing the eyes of the body and folding over his arms.

"…_two victims in one day…"_ He shivered. _"He's getting stronger…"_

"I-Is it possible for us to save him?" Kiku asked. "The same way we did with Ludwig?"

"He's been dead for over a few minutes. Most of the time, we've gotten in the minute or after it happens." Li Xiao stated. "He's been dead for too long, so-"

"We still have to do _**something**_, dammit!" Lovino screamed. "This is mi fratello you're talking to!"

"…I know…that's what I'm worried about."

Everyone else fell back into silence as Matthew's face cracked a smile. He turned to the others and revealed a light blue ball in his hands: he had succeeded in extracting a portal. He went to open it and paused, seeing that it was getting harder for him to open it. Francis and Arthur quickly went in to help, and soon the portal was wide open.

"…_I did it!"_ He gasped.

"Good for you, Mathieu…" Francis turned his head to the others. "If what Li Xiao is saying is correct, none of you have any time to waste! You must go!"

"Right, right…" Charice stood up. "God, the blood's too much for me…"

"I'll stay behind and try to keep this to a minimum." Francis nodded. "Don't rush yourself into a death trap, OK?"

"…OK."

**/= "Eden" by HetaOni =/**

It wasn't surprising to say that Ludwig was the first person through the portal. What was surprising was how calm the world looked like when they finally got through. As she stepped through, she noticed that she was standing in the middle of what looked like a small chapel with window walls, leading out to one stone path that went into floating Renaissance buildings in the clouds and adorned with streams of water that felt cold to the touch.

She looked down and saw that she had gained the outfit of a cleric…oddly enough from the Final Fantasy: Sliding Heroes game instead of real life…how strange. She lifted her head and saw that the others had jumped into Catholic wearing uniforms. Lovino seemed to hate the white robes that he was wearing, though Antonio seemed to like it despite the fact that he, Arthur and Gilbert were dressed in Catholic Knight uniforms. The American bros were dressed like World of Warcraft mages _(…why…?)_, Kiku resembled a black mage from the Final Fantasy series, and Li Xiao was…Yuri Lowell? From Tales of Vesperia? Sexy.

"Wow…this place is beautiful…" She looked around. "I'd like to see a church like this in the real world…"

"The water's crystal clean too!" Alfred started drinking from it. "Man, I feel pumped after this!"

"Why the hell are you drinking water from a Shadow World, bloody git?"

"Because I can. And it gives you back energy, which is going to help!"

"I'm going to need this too then." Charice drank the water. It tasted extremely pure. "Yep, there's the energy."

It was then that she realized that Ludwig was silent the entire time. She looked up and saw that he was standing at the entrance, wearing a bigger version of his old Holy Roman robes and ditched the hat, opting instead to wear his hair down. He turned toward the others.

"Where do we go from here…?"

"It's a one-way street, so I guess we head forward." Charice blinked. "What would that mean in a sense pertaining himself?"

"It would mean that Feliciano is open toward everyone, allowing anyone to look into his secrets if they just asked the right questions." Li Xiao looked up. "It's as if he _**wants**_ us to help him."

"Well then, let's go dammit!" Lovino spat. "The sooner we get out of here, the faster I get out of whatever the hell these things are!"

**/=+=/**

The entire world was so bright and open, so unlike the other worlds that they had fallen into. As they wandered through, everyone was surprised to see that they haven't bumped into one Shadow as of yet, instead admiring the view of the floating fortresses and the lush greenery around them.

"_This place is so beautiful…"_

"Ah…this is perfect weather to be growing tomatoes, don't you think Lovi-chan?"

"…it's…Lovino…bastard…"

"Leave it to Antonio to be thinking about _**tomatoes**_ at a time like this!" Gilbert started laughing. "At this rate, we'll find Ita-chan in no time!"

"Let's hope so. Cause any hero would know that the easiest levels have the craziest amounts of battles!" Alfred chirped.

"Tell me that when you find a Shadow somewhere." Arthur spat. "But to think, there is no conflict here…it's as if he's living carefree."

"He _**is**_ living carefree." Ludwig mentioned, his pace unsettling. "He never showed us pain except during war…he hated fighting."

"That's strange…" Charice looked around. "You would've thought there'd at least be _**something**_ concerning you as Holy Rome-"

Five seconds later, fifteen Shadows erupted from the ground, freaking her out. She screamed bloody murder and begged for forgiveness, something that did get the people to turn their heads. Ludwig in particular was caught when she was being held upside down.

**/= "Fairy Taler" by HetaOni =/**

"_**OK OK I WON'T BRING HIM UP ANYMORE SORRY **__**SORRY SORRYYYYYYYY!**__**"**_

Li Xiao quickly kicked the Shadow into oblivion, seeing as she fell into Kiku's arms. The Japanese man gave her a quick smile before slicing through the other Shadows with a flick of his katana. Gilbert and Antonio seemed to have the most fun with it, spinning through all the Shadows without a second thought. The German slowly grabbed the whip at his side.

"_**Death is both an end and a beginning."**_

He paused, feeling something else in his hand. He looked down and saw that it was a shining blue gun, the metal cross on one side and a Star of David on the other. He could see his former self hovering in front of him in his new form, laughing all the while.

"_**For while one dies from their mistakes, another learns from it and grows stronger."**_

Ludwig took a deep breath before lifting the gun to his temple, feeling his heartbeat bashing against the cold steel. It was around that time that Gilbert got a time to breathe and turned his head to see just what his brother was doing at this time.

"Hey! Bruder! _**What the hell are you doing?"**_

"Eh?" Charice looked up. _"Doitsu-ki?"_

***BAM!***

The sound of a crashing card echoed through the gun smoke, and they saw a figure erupt from the lights. Charice instantly noticed that it was the form Holy Rome took just before they left his realm, shedding his mask just to smite the others in a swarm of darkness. Everything faded as the Persona sank back into his gun, still smoking from the shot. He opened his eyes, now sparkling with life…

And got tackle-glomped by Charice.

…

**DAMMIT **Charice.

**/= "Eden" by HetaOni =/**

"Hey hey hey!" Lovino ran in front of everyone. "Why in the world is the potato bastard's summoning different from ours?"

"Most likely because he's been killed more than we have." Arthur stated. "We have gone through many names, but never different political standings. Germany here has been dissolved, rebuilt, and dissolved again many times in quick standards."

"…it was only twice." Ludwig blinked.

"Three times, if you count a few minutes ago." Li Xiao corrected. "So three times a charm?"

"Basically." Arthur smiled. "Congratulations. If my calculations are correct, die one more time and you'll end up as messed up as Ivan."

"_**FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!"**_ Lovino screamed. "Like my brother needs to hang out with more messed up people!"

"**HEY!** What's _**that**_ supposed to mean?"

"It means you're fucking messed up, woman!"

They were arguing for a few minutes _(much to Alfred's amusement)_ when Charice suddenly stopped, alerting the others. Her nose twitched for a few minutes before she gagged, plugging her nose and taking extremely deep breaths. Antonio was quick to her side.

"Are you all right, mi querida?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She shook her head. "Someone's bleeding a lot, cause I'm smelling a lot of blood."

"Eh? I feel fine." Alfred looked around his body. "Check me."

"You're good." Gilbert stated. "You're good too, bruder."

"_Everyone's good…meaning that the blood's up ahead…"_

"…who are you?"

"_Canada dayo…"_

Ludwig was quick to his feet, dashing ahead and forcing Charice to go dash off after him. The smell of blood was getting thicker, and it was then that she realized that the water streams adorning the sides were gaining a strange color. Finally, he stopped. There was a staircase in front of him, and two waterspouts that were pouring water into the streams next to them.

Well…it was supposed to be water.

Charice froze in shock as the others dashed toward their location, seeing the same thing and noticing that the sky above that location was tainted with red. It was then that Alfred decided to remark on what no one wanted to say at that point.

"Ewwwww! I drank _**BLOOD?"**_

He retched, freaking her out just a little more. Ludwig didn't fare any better, cause as creepy as this statement is going to sound, he knew whose blood this was. The same smell was back in the room where they found…

"Someone's up there…" Arthur's Persona was flashing rapidly behind him. "Whoever it is…"

"Better be Ita-chan." Antonio looked up. "Let's go."

**/=+=/**

**Feli-chan, messed up as Ivan? DAMN. Lud-sama, messed up as Ivan? Cry for your mama now.**

**And unless you haven't caught on, yes Feli-chan's world is going to only use the HetaOni OST, so you better be abusing the YouTube sites OK? Aim toward the people like QuietLittleAlice or LiLAppleX, they have the OSTs. coupdeventful has a bigger list, but I never look on theirs.**


	53. Stuck on Repeat

**For the world of this man gets crazier and crazier each time, eh? Let's keep going.**

**/= "Symphony 04" by HetaOni =/**

"Man…is it just me, or is the fog here getting heavier?"

"I know…it's so thick around here. And it reeks of a battlefield."

"You want me to hold you, Lovino~?"

"_**Hell no,**_ you freak!"

Charice shook her head, watching the males walk before her as they argued over manly stuff _(at a time like this? What the hell)_. At her side, she could see Matthew feverishly trying to catch up, only succeeding in falling to her side, which she didn't really mind.

"_This whole place has a weird aura with it…"_ He mumbled. _"Don't you feel it?"_

"I'm getting nothing past the usual chills down the spine, if that's what you're saying." Charice stated. "But yeah, this place is a little creepy."

"_It's…it's almost like it's alive."_

"Alive?"

Matthew nodded, but before he could elaborate on it a screeching metal echoed through the fog. Five seconds later, a swinging blade pierced through the clouds and sliced the Canadian in half, blood spewing all over her body. The bloody scream caught Gilbert's attention, and just when he turned around a roar echoed throughout the place, and something sliced his back open.

"Gilbert!" Antonio grabbed him. "Dammit…he's dead…"

"That quick?" Alfred turned his head around. "What the hell's going on?"

The roars continued before Alfred sank through the floor, the sound of water splashing catching their attention. Arthur pounded on the floor, Alfred desperate to reach the surface blocked with glass before he sank deep into the water. Arthur barely had time to cry before the shadows got him. Charice screamed and clung onto Li Xiao.

"What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know…stay close to me…" He looked around. "Something's here."

She looked around toward the survivors: Antonio, Ludwig, Kiku, Li Xiao, and herself. She blinked, seeing the others again. That's when she realized something: Lovino was missing. She clung closer to Li Xiao before realizing that she was holding air.

"Li Xiao?" She looked around. _**"LI XIAO!"**_

They turned their heads to see that she was looking for the missing Chinese man, and then realized that Lovino was missing too. Antonio started calling for him before a blade pierced through his stomach, and he fell over dead. Charice screamed and clung to Kiku.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know." He pulled out his katana. "Come on. We have to find them."

She nodded lightly before hearing extreme gunfire, and she turned her head to see that Ludwig had been gunned down by an unknown force. Charice screamed and clung on closer to him, leaving Kiku to stare at the fear all over her face.

"You've…never seen death like this before, have you?"

"Only once or twice…during WWII." She answered. "But I only saw the wounded, people that could be saved…"

"I see…" Kiku held her hand. "I'll protect you."

"But…what about the others?"

"If what I'm assuming is correct, we'll see them again eventually."

She nodded before they continued closer toward the center of the fog. Before they knew it, there was a light that was erupting in front of them. It got bigger and bigger until Kiku recognized the blinding light that was starting to erupt from it.

"Charice, _**run!"**_

He pushed her and for some reason, her feet began dashing forward, the bright light flashing over her. She turned her head and saw that a huge mushroom cloud had erupted from their location. Kiku could not had survived that. She began to panic…was she really alone?

As she stepped forward, the floor changed to that of white tiles and two black lines. She was standing in the middle of a clock for some reason, hearing it tick down further and further, endlessly. There was a dragging sound that caught her attention, and she turned her head to see the sliced halves of Matthew dragged to the five. She cringed.

Sooner or later, the men were being dragged in one at a time. Gilbert's lifeless body was dragged onto eleven. Alfred was wet and cold at eight. Arthur's body was massacred at one. Li Xiao was blue at nine. Lovino had his limbs sliced off at seven. Ludwig's body was covered with gunshot wounds at twelve. And Kiku's body was barely recognizable at three. Her feet began to shake.

"…you guys…? _**You guys…?"**_

There was nothing but silence, but she felt no means of which to move. She couldn't walk to them, couldn't touch their lifeless bodies.

_**[…in it…everyone is dead.]**_

"Everyone…you can't be dead…you can't be…! Li Xiao! Kiku! Matthew! _**Antonio!**_ …anyone…? Is anyone…?"

_**[They're all dead around me…I keep begging for them to wake up, but…they don't move…]**_

There was shaking behind her, and she turned her head to see that there was a monster walking toward her from the six position. She could barely see the dark feet and the long, gray legs that it was attached too.

_**[They're just…]**_

She froze as their eyes met.

_**[They're just…]**_

…

…

…

…

…

**/=+=/**

"Man…is it just me, or is the fog here getting heavier?"

"I know…it's so thick around here. And it reeks of a battlefield."

"You want me to hold you, Lovino~?"

"_**Hell no,**_ you freak!"

Matthew looked around his location, seeing the darkness pulse around with life. Next to him, he saw Charice tense and looking around for something. He felt a little nervous, but nothing that he couldn't quite catch onto.

"_Is something wrong, Charice?"_

"Eh? N-no, I'm fine." She stated. "Don't worry about me."

Matthew knew she was lying, but he figured that it was something about school. But why would she think about something like that here? Five seconds later, she pulled him out of the way, barely missing a huge blade that swung beside him.

"_Ah!"_ He turned to Charice. _"Thank you. That would've sliced me in half!"_

She didn't say anything, cringing at those words. Everyone looked as the blade swung out of view, and their nerves tensed with energy. A huge slashing sound echoed, and Gilbert jumped out of the way, knocking over Alfred and sliding him toward Ludwig. A huge crater was what was left.

"What the hell was that?" He spat. "Totally unawesome!"

"So something's here…" Li Xiao lifted his hands. "Matthew, stay close to Charice."

"_Right."_

She clung to his arm for dear life as they all clung onto each other for dear life. Matthew barely noticed a smile over her face before someone screamed. They turned and saw that Kiku had been decapitated. She screamed.

"Shit! He's after all of us!" Lovino spat. "What the hell do we do now?"

"Stay close!"

Five minutes of silence followed before more gunfire echoed out. This time, the Italian was gone in a heartbeat. Antonio screamed before realizing that a huge fire had erupted before everyone. Li Xiao and Matthew grabbed Charice and ran, screaming for the others to follow, before realizing that everyone was gone.

"_Where did they go…? Did they burn…?"_

Charice cringed.

"I don't know. But whatever wanted them, got them." Li Xiao tensed. "But what the hell does this world want with them…?"

There was a spiraling sound, and they turned to see Matthew's body chopped up. She screamed and grabbed Li Xiao's waist, making him blush excessively. They stood like that for a few minutes before he nodded, holding Charice's shoulders.

"Are you going to be OK, Charice?"

"…I'll...I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? You're pale."

"No really…"

"Charice, don't lie to me. This is too much for you, I know it. You're too innocent for something like this."

"…Li Xiao…"

"Don't push yourself. I'm right here for you…"

She blushed before nodding, making him smile _(freaking her out even more)_. After a few minutes, the sounds of a drawn blade echoed and she panicked. Li Xiao pushed her out of the way before the blade made its contact. She screamed as he fell to the ground, dead. The screaming didn't stop as the world turned to that of the clock. It only intensified.

**/=+=/**

She's done this so many times…

She couldn't save all of them…

No matter how hard she tried…

She just…couldn't…save them…

**/=+=/**

**Guess what this is homage too? REVIEW!**


	54. Every Fear Holds a Shread of Hope

**So Charice is stuck in repeat in Feliciano's dream. How is she going to break out of this? Will she break out of it? Stay tuned.**

**/= "Symphony 04" by HetaOni =/**

"Man…is it just me, or is the fog here getting heavier?"

"I know…it's so thick around here. And it reeks of a battlefield."

"You want me to hold you, Lovino~?"

"_**Hell no,**_ you freak!"

Matthew shook his head at the idocity of his friends before turning his head toward Charice. She was oddly quiet for some reason, holding her sides and looking downward. He was about to question it when she kicked him forward, barely missing a blade that swung behind him.

"_Ah-!"_ He blinked. _"Um…t-thank you…"_

She nodded quietly before walking forward. That's when he noticed something: she was walking in a limp. Li Xiao quickly noticed this and grabbed her arms, pulling them forward. Everyone turned and saw it: her stomach was covered with cuts and bruises.

"What the…?" Lovino gasped.

"Stay right here, Charice. I'll get rid of this." Arthur knelt her down. "God, how in the world did you get these wounds…?"

She said nothing, her hands hanging limply by her side. Li Xiao leaned next to her and realized that her eyes had been glazed over. That was when he realized just what was going on.

"You've…seen this before."

Everyone stared at her for a few minutes before she slowly nodded. They barely noticed the streak of pain and confusion that slapped itself over Li Xiao's eyes. Antonio quickly knelt down to her level.

"You've seen all this happen before?"

She nodded again.

"How…how many times?"

Charice said nothing, lifting her hands and all ten fingers on them and then lowering only seven soon afterwards. She held her head in her hands and started to cry, quickly alerting Kiku to hold her and the others to swarm toward her location.

"…_I…I've seen this so many times…burnt, stabbed, sliced in half, drowned…I don't…_I don't want to see this anymore…"

"There's nothing to be afraid of anymore…" Kiku rubbed her back. "You told us now. We'll be more careful from now on."

"That's right, mi querida. No one is going to take down Papa Spain, OK?"

She looked up and nodded softly, smiling at everyone for a few minutes. That's when Ludwig noticed something out of the norm, something that ended with him grabbing her shoulders and pulling her up _(much to everyone's surprise)_. She squeaked.

"Your eyes are gold…" He let her go. "Is…is Feliciano here?"

"…Feliciano…?" She finally said. "I…I don't know…I don't feel any different…"

"Actually, you were acting more like him recently…fearful of everything, not saying anything when scared…" Alfred rubbed his chin. "Maybe this is affecting you the most?"

"She's the Wild Card, so I won't be surprised." Arthur turned her. "Show us the Star Arcana."

She did just that, noticing that the card was shining brighter than what she was used too. Confused, she lifted up the Fool Arcana _(her own)_, and realized that the card wasn't shining as it used to. It was as if she had changed Arcana types. Arthur rubbed his chin.

"_What's going on…?"_ Matthew asked.

"I see…Feliciano really is affecting you in this space." He stated. "Has he told you anything personal recently?"

"…a nightmare." She answered. "About everyone dying and how he couldn't do anything."

"Ah. I get it." Arthur lifted up his finger. "In this space, we are living Feliciano's nightmare, and you have taken over the role of Feliciano."

"So she's my brother now?" Lovino spat.

"No, but her actual personality is being suppressed. The Charice that we know would at least tell one other person the second or third time that this happened, or at least be able to find out what's going on." Arthur turned to her. "You're the only one that can help him."

"…how?" She asked.

"You are Feliciano now. He has chosen you because he knows you are strong and that he is connected to you." He pointed out. "You have to overcome this yourself so that he can do it as well."

"Oh…"

Ludwig tested this out by lightly holding her hand, feeling her fingers pulse in shyness. Definitely Feliciano. Five seconds later, a roar echoed out and Charice clung onto Ludwig for support, sobbing in his cloak and trying her best to hide. Li Xiao turned his head.

"Protect her until she regains her senses." He lifted up his hands. "Something's coming."

Charice looked up shyly before seeing a huge claw rip through Arthur and Antonio, making her scream and cling onto Ludwig even more. She didn't dare move her head as more screams started echoing through the air, sobbing louder and louder until it was just the two of them. Ludwig turned his head and held her shoulders.

"Charice…Feliciano…whoever is in there…listen to me." They made eye contact. "This monster is only as strong as you want it to be. If you are strong, he will be weak."

"…Ludwig…"

"Be stronger. Don't be scared. This is like a Shadow. Stand up to it and fight it. Only then can you be free."

She stared deep into his eyes before seeing blood slip through his lips, and he hung limp in her arms. She didn't even find time to scream as she fell back into the clock room, holding her hands down and seeing the monster finally make his appearance.

_This monster is only as strong as you want it to be…_

**/= "Mystery" by HetaOni =/**

She looked up and went to her feet as she realized something: the monster was muttering something in Italian underneath his breath. Her fear was starting to recede, her actual personality coming through the influences. The Italian was suddenly becoming clearer.

_**["Why did he leave me…?"]**_

_Feliciano?_ She blinked. _Is this…his Shadow?_

_**["Francis is such a liar…they all killed him…"]**_

Charice's mind snapped back into place and she gasped. The poleaxe faithfully returned to its master.

_**["You…you took him away from me!"]**_

She lifted up the Fool Arcana, seeing it hold its usual shine and smashed it. Maguimba took up its usual shine, throwing its water toward the monster. It was about to make a strike when she heard an echo of someone kicking it, and the monster fell down again.

_What in the world?_

Charice stood there in place, utterly confused, as the monster was battling unseen forces that were tearing it apart. Cards were being crushed, guns were firing…and for the first time, she didn't actually feel alone. She looked down in her hand and realized that there was a new card there, holding the globe on it.

_The Arcana that symbolizes the small piece of the puzzle that the wielder is a part of…the World…_

She crushed it in her hands, hearing Li Xiao screaming for some reason, and a bright light engulfed the room, taking the monster down with it. The Shadow's magic faded into the light, and she heard the final words.

_**["You…you must suffer like I did…wait a thousand years…wait for the rest of eternity…"]**_

And they faded into oblivion, returning it to the clock room.

**/= "Even If You Feel Sad" by HetaOni =/**

_What's going on…? They…they should be coming back by now…_

There were more minutes of silence before she realized something: the monster was not Feliciano's Shadow, he was the one that was looping time, and because he is now dead, none of them can return to life. They had all died here, trying to keep her alive and…

She didn't need to hold Feliciano's personality to drop to her knees and sob at her failure. Maybe it was because she spoke up that the cycle could be stopped. Maybe they would be with her when she goes to save Feliciano on her own. She can do it…right…?

A light slowly began to glow before her, and she felt warmth erupt from it. She stood up and watched as a shadow came through it, like someone was reaching out toward her. Without even thinking about it, she reached out to it as well, feeling a familiar warmth between her fingers. As she fell through it, she saw the hand reach out and wipe her tears.

…

…

…

…

"_Ludwig…DAMMIT don't leave me like this!"_

_This was his punishment. He was going to die here and Prussia will take his place, forsaking his old title to one that will not make him lose his life. As Arthur concluded that was going to happen, he heard a light sob just a few feet away. He didn't have to turn his head, but a strange sense of guilt came through him. He didn't want him to see it. But he did._

_Ludwig was dead._

_And Feliciano saw everything._

…

…

…

…

"Charice? Are you all right?"

Her eyes opened to see Alfred staring back at her, the sky now a normal blue. She looked around and realized that she was sitting in a pool of some sort, the stream connected to a small tree sap in the middle of the platform. She turned her head again and saw the others waking up in their own pools.

"What's going on…?"

"I dunno. After we came outta that world, I woke up here." Alfred grinned. "Fortunately, the water's not blood~!"

"…healing properties?"

"Yeah. When you woke up, that tree started growing. Wish I knew why."

She knew it. As she walked up to the tree, she could feel a strange sense of hope erupting from it. She turned her head and saw everyone wiping away the sleep from their eyes, and then turned back to the tree that seemed to hold beautiful memories within it. As she rubbed it, she saw him with Holy Rome.

"Just keep remembering that there's hope, Feli-chan. Just keep remembering."

"Are you all right, Charice?" Kiku touched her back. "After all that…?"

"A little traumatized, but I'm still able to walk." She answered. "But we have bigger fish to fry. Like finding Feli-chan."

"Right. We've wasted too much time here." Ludwig turned his head. "We have to go."

**/=+=/**

**Simple, but clean. The monster **_**(Tony)**_** is a representation of Feliciano's guilt of losing Holy Rome, morphing itself to something that he hates in order for him to reject it. I think all those monsters that are in HetaOni **_**(with the exception of the main one)**_** are the other nations that have died in their respective timelines, their guilt of something making that said monster. In other words, if all the nations both inside and outside the manor die…well, shit happens.**

**Just a theory I have. Don't mind me.**


	55. As Clear as Fragile Crystal

**Yay, Charice is out of the loop~! Let's go save Feli-chan now!**

**/= "Eden" by HetaOni =/**

She clung close onto Li Xiao as they ventured deeper and deeper into the realm. After what had happened, none of them could blame her for those actions. Li Xiao made no move to walk faster than what she could do as the others tried to initiate normal conversations.

"Dude, did you _**see**_ that thing?" Alfred flexed his arms. "It looked like Tony a little bit!"

"That alien friend of yours?" Arthur sighed. "Why the bloody hell are you making the comparison now?"

"Yeah, Alfred. She had to see him seventeen times in a row, all with our guts dangling off his fingers!" Lovino spat. "How about saving this till later?"

"I'm just saying that because I had a ton of fun pounding his head in the pavement!"

Charice paused, stopping Li Xiao.

"You…you fought him?" She let him go. "I don't get it…I was fighting him alone!"

"No you weren't! That recent time, after I got my ass handed over, I woke up in this really strange room that almost looked like a clock of some sorts." He started gesturing for no reason. "I looked up and saw you staring at the Tony look-alike, and next thing I knew, **BAM!** Someone kicked it straight in the dirt!"

"Hey, I had that image too…waking up in that room." Lovino looked up. "Only I was the one who kicked him! Was it in the cheek?"

"Yeah, it was in the cheek…" Alfred rubbed his forehead. "And then he tried to stand up and that's when I shot him in the leg-"

"And then something slashed his arm open." Antonio dictated.

"Hey, how the hell would you know that?" Lovino asked.

"…because I was the one who did that." He answered.

"Wait, wait...waitwaitwait…" Gilbert lifted his hands. "Are you saying we fought this guy without even seeing each _**other?"**_

"How would that work?" Charice asked. "It never happened the other times, so…what made this one different?"

"It's because you spoke up. Feliciano's not the one to reveal secrets as dark as this." Ludwig stated, his cape making an epic _swoosh_ sound as he turned. "All secrets can be solved with another person in the know. By revealing his secret of this nightmare, he gained the power to overcome it."

"Wait a minute." Kiku blinked. "I thought Charice was the one who had to do it for him?"

"No…" Li Xiao stated. "She was directly connected to Feliciano, so as she did it, he overcame it himself. This was just to save us, who were stuck in the nightmare."

Matthew nodded about it for a minute before realizing that he was holding his right arm as if he damaged it. As he stared at it, he could've sworn that his skin was starting to turn a light green. Upon touching it, he pulled his arm away, revealing that there was nothing wrong with it.

"So…everyone was there at that time…?" Charice blinked in surprise.

"_Yes…we all protected you…"_ Matthew smiled. _"And we saw you summon that World Persona too…"_

"I never actually saw what it was, so…" She paused. "I smell blood…_**geez**_, a lot of it, too…"

All of them tensed as Kiku and Li Xiao jumped in front of her. Matthew and Gilbert took the front row, walking as quick as they could and saw the environment turn a light red. The rivers were quick to turn back to blood, leading to a huge crystal temple that was shining a bright blue.

"That looks like a huge final boss location, if you ask me." Gilbert laughed. "Sooooo…who's up for some Shadow bashing?"

"_I'll open the door, Gilbert. Being invisible, I should be able to bypass visual traps."_

"…who the hell is that guy?"

"_Canada dayo…"_

"Greenland, right!"

Matthew was about to cry but then decided to open the door anyway.

**/= "Flame, Staring at the Shadows" by HetaOni =/**

There was no visual trap that they can see, but they did see that the room was dark and the only source of light came from the crystals that were around them. Everyone entered in quietly and saw the door close behind them, allowing them to see the crystals.

"…they're cool to the touch." Arthur remarked.

"At least they ain't blood colored." Lovino spat.

"Ah…guys?" Antonio turned his head. "Is it just me, or do I have the strange feeling that we're not alone?"

As they debated that for a few minutes, Charice and Alfred found themselves staring at one of the crystals. The surface was smooth, and made a sound that rang out like bells. Upon closer examination, they saw that the inside was hollow and filled with water. A shadow came from the depths, and they braced themselves…

And screamed.

Ludwig turned his head and saw the two of them fly back as the image of Antonio appeared immobilized in the crystal, asleep and unmoving. For her own sake, Charice started flailing her arms around until she felt the Spaniard's arm. She almost cut off blood circulation.

"OK…so this is just his mind's image…OK…" Alfred calmed down. "That's…um…good…"

"Wow…it looks so much like me~!" Antonio laughed _(REALLY now?)_. "Why would he have a copy of me in his mind?"

"Answer that after you turned around."

Arthur pointed at all the crystals around him, and they turned to see that each crystal had a copy of everyone that they knew: Alfred, Francis, Yong Soo, even Rizal was in there. Odd enough, they couldn't find Ludwig in the mess, making the man a little sad.

"That's strange…I thought we'd see that Holy Rome guy that Germany kept telling us about!" Alfred turned his head. "He ain't here either!"

"So would he be further in?" Charice asked.

"I wouldn't be hasty in that decision, but that is the best we have." Kiku lifted up his blade. "I'll be in the front."

**/= "Frozen Heart and Death of Parents" by HetaOni =/**

As they walked further in, Charice could hear the sound of running water through the images of the frozen nations. She turned her head and saw the small streams of blood that flowed before them, freaking her out. Li Xiao held her hand, making the smell a little more tolerable.

"_I-I see something!"_

"Fratello!"

Matthew and Lovino raced forward and stopped, seeing a clearing where the crystals held his closest friends _(the Kiku copy made the real one shiver)_ and the floor was completely covered with indents that held blood. She looked forward and saw a sorry sight.

There was a gigantic crystal on the furthest side of the room, holding the images of Holy Rome and Ludwig in them, and a boy was kneeling at their feet. He was facing the golden cross that was in front of him, and his white robes were stained with blood. They were streaming down his arms and legs, dripping into the indents of the floor.

"Oh…**GOD!"** Alfred panicked. "All the water in here was from _**his **__**blood?**__**"**_

Now Charice _**really**_ wanted to be sick. Drinking from a Shadow's blood was one thing. That Shadow being Feliciano was something else entirely. As they were getting close, she realized that he was praying in Italian hence she had no idea what he was saying. Suddenly, his tone changed.

_**["Oh merciful God above, give me the strength to vanquish the foes that seek to do harm to His name…"]**_

The crystals started to glow, and soon all of them were having the images of their other frozen selves. Their eyes opened, revealing shining gold eyeballs.

_**["Give me the courage to walk forward with His blade…"]**_

The shells were starting to crack.

_**["And pray that my penance will save them."]**_

The crystals exploded, forming warped versions of the monster that Charice faced before. She screamed and clung onto the others as they readied their blades. Kiku was the first to attack, realizing that his blade went right through them. He gasped as another monster smashed him to the ground.

"Kiku!" Charice screamed.

_**["May Satan's demons not harm your angels…and may they bring true justice to all who wrong you…"]**_

"My attacks aren't even touching them!" Gilbert looked up. "This is totally unawesome, man! What are we supposed to do?"

"_We can't hit them…they can hit us…"_ Charice mumbled. She turned back to Feliciano's Shadow, trying to connect.

_**["In His name, I shiver at your feet…"]**_

"I got it!" She snapped her fingers. "Violence isn't going to do anything! Quick, remember a good memory of Feliciano!"

"Why Feliciano?"

"I dunno, it's just his mind or something! Anything will do at this point!"

Ludwig and the others did just that, seeing the monsters freeze in their place. Alfred was laughing at the faces of them as they were unable to move, struggling to at least try and touch them.

"It's working!"

"We need something stronger!" Li Xiao looked up. "Keep remembering!"

Ludwig dug through his memories…each and every one of them holding the smiling Italian…and he wondered just which one of them would be strong enough for the monsters to be obliterated. None of them seem to be strong enough. _What would work…?_

"**R-really?"**

"**Yes, really. I wouldn't lie to you."**

He froze.

**/= "The Decision of Love" by HetaOni =/**

At the discovery of that memory, his forehead began to glow, obliterating all the monsters in the room. Gilbert quickly grabbed his shoulders and watched him steady himself, holding his forehead as the final gap began to piece itself. His eyes opened, and Gilbert paused: they were just as bright as Holy Rome's…so long ago.

"_I remember everything now…"_

"Doitsu-ki?"

He turned his head and walked toward Feliciano's Shadow, who had stopped praying and was now going to his feet in fear. Ludwig made no move to address it, walking even slower until he found himself stopping. No sound was made until Feliciano's Shadow began to twitch in realization.

"Italia…do you remember me?" His voice was different…childish?

_**["…Holy Rome…?"]**_ He hiccupped. _**["I-is that really you…?"]**_

"Italia, have you been suffering this entire time? All because of a promise that I tried to keep…and failed to do?"

_**["No, Holy Rome…please…d-don't blame yourself."]**_

"But this is all my fault. I promised to you that day…that I was going to return to you…winner or not. No matter what had occurred, I would be coming home…" He looked down to his hands. "Can you forgive me for failing you? Can you forgive me for leaving you in such pain and despair for so long…?"

_**["I-I'll always forgive you…nothing is your fault, Holy Rome…"]**_

"Then let go of this guilt, Italia. The waiting is over. Cast away your pain and come with me. We're going home."

Ludwig lifted up his hand _(causing Charice to fangirl squeal)_, seeing Feliciano stare at him before slowly lifting up his own hand to comply. However, as he lifted up his wrist, he saw the blood that dripped from his robes. He quickly jerked his hand back, startling him. The fear in his eyes was now shadowed by him staring at his blood-stained hands. He turned around and stared at the crystals in front of him, the one holding the images.

_**["Who are you…?"]**_ His voice was cold, emotionless.

"…Italia…?"

_**["Do not…! Call me…that…!"]**_ His fingers tensed. _**["The only man who has called me that…had died two hundred years ago! You who is in Satan's image…why do you torment me so!"]**_

"We're not tormenting you!" Li Xiao stated as they all ran to Ludwig's location. "We only speak of the truth! Holy Rome is back, and he's back for you!"

_**["How much penance and praying must I do to gain His grace? How much blood must I shed to purify his soul and allow him to join His grace in His kingdom…?"]**_

"…Ludwig…" Antonio turned his head. "All of this was for you…"

_**["…I get it…it was never my blood, but yours!"]**_ He lifted his arms.

"Italia, don't…" Ludwig begged, his face covered with fear.

_**["The blood of evil will be purified today…and His grace will ensure that he will be saved…"]**_ Feliciano began to glow. _**["Devils, be gone!"]**_

**/=+=/**

**I'm trying to update "Hetalian Inserts", but I'm stuck on my limited knowledge of Soul Eater and planning out the Team Fortress 2 chapter that I did this instead.**


	56. The Steel Behind an Angel's Soul

**So Feliciano's Shadow is going to attack them in order to save Holy Rome, not knowing that Holy Rome is with them! What irony D:**

**Oh, by the way, the bleeding Italy in the temple thing. I remember reading it in another fanfic somewhere. How I was able to forget the title is beyond me, cause **_**IT TRAUMATIZED ME TO NO END.**_ **After a few minutes of staying awake at nights and closing my eyes to see the Italian brothers bleeding for hours on end, I made up that section of the world just to calm myself down. At least no one though about it :D**

**/= "Aka Ikusu Nise" by Umineko no Naku Koro Ni **_**(yes, I had to cheat on this one) **_**=/**

His image morphed before their eyes, turning into that of a baby-faced saint with seraph wings and a scepter in her hands. Charice and Kiku went into the front line as the Shadow was spinning in the air, the ruffles of the robes spinning with it.

_**["I am a Shadow…the true self."]**_ He stated. _**["You who follows Satan's path, may you find mercy in His arms, and turn around…"]**_

"What…does he mean by that?"

"Why are you asking me, Charice? You're the Catholic."

"Yeah, but…we don't do stuff like this…anymore."

Kiku sighed as they charged for their assault. To her surprise, everyone was crashing into him like it was no big deal. The Shadow was making no move to counter, except for the occasional slap or two, which did nothing except for knocking people off their feet and slamming their heads into walls _(…Lovino)_.

_**["Do you not see mercy in my actions? I give you one last shot to save yourselves."]**_

"Feliciano…" Ludwig stepped forward. "We're here to save you…against yourself."

_**["Why do you keep beckoning me? Satan has no meaning in my life."]**_

"…Feliciano, no…"

"Bruder! Get back!"

Gilbert pulled him back as the Shadow took a new form. He now looked like a demon with black fire and scorching red eyes, screaming in a dragon's roar that scared her just a little bit. He lifted up his hand and the whole temple quaked, becoming a huge stone platform with dark clouds around them.

"…hey, uh…show of hands. Who misses the angel that wouldn't attack us?"

"I'm up." Gilbert answered.

_**["You who stray so far from the path of righteousness…"]**_ The voice was demonic, terrifying. _**["Your only hope is reincarnation. Cast aside the cursed flesh that you souls have been kept inside and accept your punishment."]**_

Charice screamed as the demon slammed his hand on the ground, causing cracks into the sand and for Lovino to fall over. Before anyone could react, another hand crushed him into the dirt. Antonio started screaming and running toward him, only to be crushed by the other hand. Charice screamed again.

"Antonio! Lovino!" Alfred headed forward, shooting the Shadow along the way. "Dammit, I can't get any damage!"

"Bloody git, get out of the way!"

Arthur pulled him out of the way as a huge cage of light crash before them. They looked up and saw the Shadow lift his hands up, bringing the crushed bodies up with them. They almost looked like marionettes in a way, moving with each twitch of the Shadow's fingers.

_**["Turn with them…for they have returned to the right path."]**_

"…Lovi-chan…papa…" Charice shivered. "W-we have to help them…"

"We will, don't worry…" Kiku drew his blade. "Avoid the Persona at all cost!"

Antonio summoned his Persona, fusing with it as his massive axe crashed five inches away from Matthew's face. He jumped down and saw Lovino zoom toward him, flip kicking him in the air. As the Canadian flew upwards, Li Xiao jumped forward and went with a one-on-one duel. The others were taking forever with trying to beat Antonio.

_**["Those who have seen His will…turn!"]**_

A hug blinding light caught everyone off guard, dropping them to their knees. A second later, Li Xiao and Kiku rose to their feet, shaking themselves off and helping Alfred to his feet as well. They all took deep breaths as they watched the others rise like they were puppets as well.

"W-what's going on?" Kiku held his blade firm.

Gilbert and Matthew charged forward, making the others jump out of the way and counter the others who attacked them. Kiku lifted up his blade and blocked Charice's poleaxe, ducking just to miss Antonio's blade as well. They hit back-to-back yet again.

"They're all Catholic…they must've turned…" Li Xiao turned his head. "Though why didn't you turn, Alfred?"

"I'm the United States of America! I'm every religion!" He poked at himself. "Guess the others made me immune or something!"

"So there's three of us versus the rest of them…" Kiku looked up to the Shadow. "What should we do…?"

_**["Do you three not follow God's words? Turn and follow us…or may reincarnation fail to save you…"]**_

"Dude, I never thought I'd say this…but the Italian is really starting to creep me out." Alfred shivered. "Anyone want a plan?"

"Aim for the gem, over there." Li Xiao pointed at the Shadow's chest. "It's been glowing every time he was attacking."

"I can do that!" Alfred winked as he fired. "Hey…I can't get a shot!"

"We have to destroy it up close. Your super strength should do the trick." Kiku lifted the blade. "I'll assist you."

"Don't worry about me. I'll handle the people down here." Li Xiao nodded. "Just hurry."

The two of them nodded as they charged toward the Shadow, dodging all of the puppets that were attacking them. Li Xiao jumped around everyone else before being thrown to the ground. He quickly sat up and saw Charice and Gilbert above him, their weapons in hand. The Chinese man sighed and pulled out a small knife from his sleeve, the handle adorned by a golden dragon.

"_Man…I didn't want to do this again…"_

As Alfred and Kiku jumped into the air to attack, a blinding white light pushed them forward, and they smashed into the gem with all their might. That light alone smacked them back, and when they stood up the gem was gone and the demon was screaming in pain. The victims were dizzy, but they were alive.

"…what the hell happened?" Gilbert rubbed his forehead.

"All that were Catholic were hypnotized." Li Xiao answered, his hands in his long sleeves. "The gem controlled his powers."

"He manipulated his own _**brother?**_ That bitch!" Lovino slammed his feet on the floor. "That's it, **LET ME AT HIM!"**

"Aim for the glowing part in his chest!" Arthur said, his Persona already out. "That will destroy the demon!"

Everyone charged with all their might, their Persona assaulting the place. Kiku turned around and saw Ludwig stare at the demon, at the monster Feliciano had become, all because of something he failed to do. He landed and saw him take a deep breath, grab his gun, and shoot his temple. His past self flew into the air.

"_**Italia…by my blade, be cleansed!"**_

**/= "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan =/**

"_What do people do to show affection in your country?"_

"_Um…kiss, I think."_

"_I…I see."_

_He watched as Holy Rome leaned in closer to him, their lips lightly grazing before they finally made full contact. They stood there for a few minutes before they parted, a light blush covering both of their faces. He shivered, and Holy Rome lightly touched him._

"_R-really?" He whispered._

"_Yes, really…I wouldn't lie to you."_

"_Yay…that's happy."_

_Holy Rome smiled, and he could almost see a tear forming in his eyes. After a few minutes, he turned and walked with the army, turning one more time to wave forever back at him. He happily replied, a smile and a chuckle on his lips. He was going to see him again…no matter what. Because he promised._

"**=== + === + ==="**

"_**He's not coming home, Italy. He's dead…I'm sorry."**_

_Those words from the Frenchman's mouth pained him. He walked into his room and began to sob in his pillow. How…? How can he fail on his promise like that? There was nothing true about it…it was a lie, wasn't it? Holy Rome was coming back, right…?_

_He had been crying for months on end, making the bosses extremely worried. After a few days after that, he sat up on the pestle and looked at the altar in front of him. The image of the crying Jesus on the cross made him look down at his fingers, red from squeezing each other._

_That was his vow. He had to be stronger. But how does the one who was so happy all the time suddenly steel his heart without people noticing? After a few hours of praying he made his answer. He will play up a façade. Continue being the Italy that everyone knew, but distance himself from others. Connections with other people will only hurt him even more._

_God had said that it was the eyes that were the windows to people's souls._

_That was the last time anyone saw his eyes open._

"**=== + === + ==="**

_He climbed up the hill, hearing that his friend Ludwig was there with the rest of the Allied Forces. He had no idea why he was so fascinated by the German. He was tall, strong, the final standing point of what he wanted to be. That was why he became Fascist, just to be stronger…_

_He finally reached up to the top of the hill, seeing Ludwig on the ground in the mud and his older brother holding him. He was about to say something when Ludwig vanished into the light, much to his brother's protests._

_Before he knew it, he was running in the rain._

_He ran further and further until he found a building that was still standing. He dropped to the side and let gravity take him down, and began to sob in his hands. What was this pain in his chest? How long has it been since he felt something like this?_

_What…what was this?_

**/=+=/**

**And that is the boss battle! REVIEW~!**

**Oh, and I want to try something out if you people want me to try it. I want to rewrite a few chapters of Persona Powers Hetalia, but with a twist: if any of you guys remember the poll that I had prior to this fanfic, I asked if you guys wanted a male or female character. The poll was close, but Charice won.**

**So this is my offer: if any of you guys want it, I want to rewrite certain chapters **_**(of your requests)**_** as if Rizal was the main character this entire time. In other words, what would've happened in Matthew's world if Rizal was there and not Charice? How would he react to a drunk Germany? The chapters I can do are all request based, so if you want anything, throw it out. Just don't ask for any chapter I didn't type up yet, and no Feliciano's world. Feliciano would not be a victim in his story **_**(for good reasons ;D)**_


	57. If I Die Young

**And here's the end of the Feli-chan arc! Who's happy? No one? OK.**

**/= "All Faith is Lost" by HetaOni =/**

As they sank back out of the world, Charice found herself standing in the middle of the crystal temple again, Feliciano's Shadow kneeling on the ground. Ludwig stepped forward and watched as the Shadow shivered for a few seconds before openly sobbing at their feet, emotions flooding into his body for the first time in centuries.

"What the hell…?" Lovino blinked.

"Denying any sort of emotions can do that to people." Li Xiao sighed, his arms moving in his sleeves. "Feeling everything you've denied at the same time can overwhelm a consciousness."

"Yeah…especially someone like him." Kiku cringed. "We're in his mind, though…is there anything we can do to ease the pain?"

"That would be going deeper in his mind, and at this rate we would be damaging him even more." Arthur stated. "He'll have to do this on his own."

"No…I'm through with letting him suffer alone."

Charice watched as Ludwig walked closer and closer to the sobbing Italian Shadow, shaking and sobbing from all the loss and pain that he had been suffering, unable to deal with all the pain that his body was now going through. His words were now confused jumbles.

"…Italia…"

"_**Don't…call me…that!"**_ He sobbed. _**"H-he's dead…I-I was told that…he never returned…why do you torture me so? What did I do to hurt you…?"**_

"Italia, you didn't hurt me at all…please don't be scared of me…" He knelt down to his level. "Please, look at me…"

"_**Just to torment me…? Why would God throw me out of His favor?"**_

"He didn't, Italia. Look at me." He lightly took his shoulders. "Open your eyes…and look at me."

The Shadow clearly didn't want to, but after a while his eyes slowly opened up, revealing sparkling hazels that haven't seen the light of day in ages. They looked up to the man holding him…to the German bearing pure sapphire irises…and widened twice their size.

"…_**H-Heilrich…?"**_

"…Italia…"

He started to sob in his arms, and Ludwig lightly touched foreheads with him, hearing the sobs soften into small hiccups. A few long seconds of silence followed before his nerves kicked in and he started to lean forward. But a light finger stopped him, and he opened his eyes to see a shivering Italian Shadow, more tears forming in his eyes.

"Italia?"

"…_**c-can you…can you forgive me…?"**_

"I'll always forgive you." He rubbed his shoulders again. "Please, Italia. Tell me what's wrong."

"…_**I've…I've been unfaithful to you…"**_

"Unfaithful? How?"

"_**Heilrich, I…I'm in love with someone else…"**_

That hit Ludwig hard. Charice, on the other hand, had half her mind utterly destroyed by the notion that out of all the Germany worries she had, _**Italy**_ was the straight one _(but he spent the majority of his time hitting on girls, so you would've thought she get a clue or something)_. Kiku could literally see the fangirl part of her mind choking itself to death behind her eyes. He had to admit: it was oddly amusing…something that wasn't appropriate at this time.

"It's all right, Italia…it's been so long since I have left, I…I wasn't expecting you to stay faithful-"

"_**No, you…you don't understand…I wanted to be faithful. I thought about you always and…and I failed…"**_

"I failed just as much, Italia. You are not perfect. I am not perfect." He brushed the hair of the shaking Italian. "Now then…can I ask you who this lucky girl is?"

"…" He sniffled. _**"It's…a country just like us."**_

The others were now eagerly listening. There were only about…what, eight, nine, ten girls in the classes that Feliciano would frequent. If they counted the South American and African countries, that number would go up, but he never knew much about them. The only thing going through Charice's head is _if he says that he's in love with me, I would be utterly confused out of my-_

"…_**it's Germany."**_

_**"YEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!"**_

Li Xiao sighed as Charice started partying around the room _(leaving Matthew and Alfred to pin her down because __**THEY WANT TO HEAR THIS TOO)**_**.** Meanwhile, all Ludwig could do was laugh a little at the revelation, much to the Shadow's surprise.

"Germany?" He asked casually. "Who's he?"

"_**He's a strong man, very protective and very kind."**_ He remarked. _**"I…I was leaning on him shortly after you…you…"**_

"I understand, Italia."

"…_**he taught me the fact that it was okay to allow emotions back…even if it hurt me all over again…"**_ The Shadow lowered his head. _**"I love him now…and I ask for your forgiveness…"**_

"Now why would I be mad at your happiness?"

"_**Heilrich?"**_

"Italia, I would never be mad at you because your heart belongs to someone else. This man makes you happy, correct?"

"_**More than anything…"**_

"Then the least I can do is bring you back to him." He smiled, stroking his hair. "To make the both of you happy."

"_**Heilrich…"**_

"Italia…"

He backed up from the Shadow and smiled, a light blush sinking into the Shadow's face. He lifted up his hand and, in one slow stroke, brushed his hair off his forehead, keeping it back there. Feliciano's eyes widened even more, almost to the point of it falling out of the socket.

"…_**Lud…?"**_

"Feliciano…come back with me."

Ludwig's hand lifted slowly, allowing the hair to drift back onto his forehead. The Shadow quickly made the connection, crying even more before he threw himself into his arms. The minute they made contact, the entire room filled with a bright white light. The light faded away, and in their place they found themselves back at the floating platform with the pools and the tree in the middle of the area.

"_It's over…"_ Matthew smiled.

They turned their heads to see Ludwig holding onto a child version of Feliciano, complete with a maid's dress and a woman's sob coming out of his throat. The German smiled and planted a small kiss on his forehead, making the boy shiver and coo softly.

…

"No, Charice. _**No."**_

"_**Nyuuuuuuuuuu…"**_

**/= "Promise Me" by HetaOni =/**

"So I'm dead now…"

"Yes…but only temporary!" Charice chirped. "For once we come back, you'll be alive and good as new!"

"Oh, really? Yay, that's good!" Feliciano laughed. "So we can go back to living our lives!"

"No…not really."

Everyone paused for a few minutes as they saw Li Xiao walk before all of them, standing in front of the portal and facing them with a serious look on his face. Those words worried Charice and Ludwig to the maximum.

"What…what do you mean?"

"He's been dead for too long now…at this point, all he can do is reincarnate."

"…move into a different body?" Alfred asked.

"If we made it in time. However, not only do we have time against us, we also have the factor of him only being half a country." Li Xiao pointed out. "There's a chance he won't reincarnate at all, and even then he might just move into a different body."

"…what do you mean by…reincarnate?" Ludwig asked.

"Like what happened with you…only you were lucky enough to keep your memories intact." The Chinese man answered. "There's a chance that he might never remember you or your former self…if he actually takes his nation status."

The room went silent as Lovino stormed forward and grabbed his collar.

"_**Why the HELL are you telling us this now, you bastard?"**_ Lovino screamed. "When we're just about to get the hell out of here?"

"Would you rather know about this now and say what you have to, or later when you leave and realize that he's not waking up?" He calmly answered. "This is a way of showing mercy to you."

"Then why didn't you tell us when _**I**_ was in that world, huh?" He spat. _**"WHY NOT!"**_

"Because you went in on your own accord. You didn't die. Nothing was affected." Li Xiao closed his eyes. "In happier news, if Feliciano dies you achieve the true immortality that the rest of them hold."

Lovino grunted before throwing him to the ground, being pulled back by a similarly startled Antonio. The room went back into a silence as they contemplated the fact that Li Xiao had just told them. Ludwig turned to Feliciano, who was holding onto his robe and sobbing softly.

"…_Ludwig?"_

"_What is it?"_ His voice was soft.

"_T-this might be the last time I ever talk to you…"_

"_Feli, no-"_

"_Please, listen to me…if…if what Li Xiao said is true…and I don't come back…"_ Feliciano clung to him. _"Please don't waste your time to try to find me…I don't want you to waste eternity…"_

"_I don't care. I'd waste everything that I am to see you again…I've wasted my life trying to remember you…"_

"…_then if you do find me…"_ Feliciano looked up. _"No matter how many times I curse at you, force you away, scream how much I hate you…don't ever leave me again?"_

"…_as you wish."_

He sobbed quietly for a few minutes before nodding to accept his coming. He whispered something in Ludwig's ear before he approached the portal, turning around to the people that had helped save him. Feliciano moved away from his shoulder.

"Thank you all for helping me…I won't ever forget it." He called out. "Fratello, we will always be brothers."

"…until the dying breath."

"Um…anyone have anything to say before we go?" Gilbert turned his head. "Cause I have to say that you look cute, man."

"I wanna hold him…"

Li Xiao couldn't deny this one, and he allowed Charice to cuddle Feliciano for a while. She cooed for a while, making Feliciano squeak and shiver like a baby and making himself all the cuter, really.

"You're so cute like this…" She laughed.

"Ve~~~when I reincarnate, can you hold me like this again?"

"I'll hold you like this forever, if you want!"

"Ve~~~but what about Ludwig?"

"Right, him."

She gave it back to the German, who gave him another kiss to the forehead. After a few minutes of silence, they walked through the portal together. The others silently followed, leaving Charice and Li Xiao alone in Feliciano's world. She turned around.

"So…there's a chance that we lost Feliciano forever…" She said.

"And there's a chance that none of the sad things happen and he returns to his body as normal." Li Xiao stated bluntly. "While the chance is small, it was still there."

"_**WHAT?**_ Seriously? If that chance was there, why didn't you say anything about it?" Charice was confused. "Make them happy just for a little while?"

"Because the chance was extremely small, like 1 out of a million, or even a trillion." He smiled. "Plus, seeing someone defy all the negative odds and come back to life is oddly romantic, isn't it aru?"

"…since when did _**you**_ get so romantic?"

"_Oh, I don't know…someone rubbed it off of me, I guess."_

She blinked as he shrugged and headed through the portal, forcing her to follow. Part of her wished that what he said would be true.

**/=+=/**

**The Rizal thing is still open, if you want it :D REVIEW, NOW!**


	58. Bury Me Inside

**So Li Xiao spilled out something that is quite worrysome…harsh, right? Maybe not.**

**/= [DAY 66] =/**

As Charice escaped the realm, she saw the horrified face of Francis _(who obviously saw everything)_. She looked to Ludwig, whose shock was blankly placed at his empty arms. He looked up and saw the body of the man he loved sleeping peacefully on top of the daisies, as if he wasn't dead or had his heart carved out. He walked over to him and knelt over his body, still feeling nothing.

"_You're not going to be alone anymore…"_ He whispered in his ear. _"I'll find you, Italia…I'll find you…and I'm not letting you go anymore."_

They stood in the background as he cradled the body before walking away one by one, knowing that they couldn't handle seeing this anymore. Lovino seemed to be on the verge of crying, and was the first person out. Charice was about to leave when she realized that Kiku had stayed behind, staring at the German who wasn't saying anything.

"The three of us were inseparable…"

"Hah?"

"During the war, we were all allies. He trained the two of us to be the warriors that we are now." Kiku's eyes drooped. "The two of them were inseparable, and I believe that Doitsu enjoyed his company even before he remembered their past."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did." Charice laughed softly. "I mean, I've only seen them for a couple of months and I already knew how deeply connected they were."

"Yes…and it was as if they were the only ones who didn't see it."

"Well, that's how dense all people are when they're in love. They really don't see anything that's so bluntly obvious in front of them!"

Kiku could only sigh and force out a small chuckle as Ludwig finally rose from his position, Feliciano's body resting peacefully on the daisies, and turned to leave the room. He gave a look to Kiku, and Charice couldn't help but notice that it looked like that of someone in pain, before leaving the room in silence.

…

"Whoa _**whoa **__**WHOA!**_ We're just gonna leave the body over here like this like it's no big deal now?" Charice started spazzing. "Come on, I know you can't handle seeing him anymore, but this is just getting a little creepy, don't you think? Hey? _**HEY!"**_

"If what Li Xiao said is correct, Feliciano's body does not need a burial." Kiku stated. "Countries that fade from existence leave both mind and body. He will dissipate like he was salt in water."

"…O…K…" She pointed at him. "L-let me just seal off the process right now so that way we can see if he dissipates or not."

Kiku nodded as Charice walked forward and found herself caressing Feliciano's hair. She couldn't help but see what attracted Ludwig to him both as himself and Heilrich: he looked so innocent when he was asleep…even though he wasn't technically asleep, but…yeah. She turned around to see the Japanese man looking down at the both of them with sad eyes.

"So I guess we wait until tomorrow then." She sighed and tried really hard to smile for him. "See if anything happens…"

"…hai." Kiku's eyes drooped. "Wait…"

"Yeah, I don't like the sound of that either…but we're gonna have to. We can't rush anything." Charice rubbed the back of her head. "I mean, I want an immediate answer, but I can't really force it out-"

"_**GAH!"**_

"_**GYAAAAAAAAAA!"**_ She turned her head around. _**"**__**KYAAAAAAAAAA!**__**"**_

"_**VEEEEEE~!"**_

Kiku paused to let it all sink in. Feliciano, against all odds, have come back to life. Not only that, but Charice was now strangling away what little life he might've had left. Once that clicked in his mind, he quickly pried her off.

"Let him breathe, Charice!"

"Eh? Breathe, what? _**GYAAAA!**_ Feli-chaaan!" She started to cuddle him. _"My baby, my poor, poor baby, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"_

"_Ve…i-it's OK…"_ He snuggled. _"Am…am I alive?"_

"…I feel alive. I think you must be too." Charice looked up. "Unless we're in the Twilight Zone."

"_**VEE~!"**_

"I was joking, I was joking!" She laughed. "Well, at least we got all the worrying out of the way!" _Damn, Li Xiao…don't tell me you were lying about the odds of him coming back too…_

"Well, we should tell the others about the good news." Kiku smiled. "I'll go tell them."

"_**We'll**_ go tell them. They're all swarming back at the dorms, most likely. I mean, it's already seven!" Charice blinked. _Seven? Really? Wow._ "Feli-chan, you need help to stand?"

"No, I'll be fine…" Feliciano smiled. "I'll…I'll go find Doitsu…"

"You sure?"

"Yes…I want him to find me…"

"Uh…OK. Me and Kiku will get the rest." Charice stood up. "All right?"

"Yeah…thank you."

**/=+=/**

**OK, to elaborate what I asked last chapter: the Rizal rewrite will be a separate story from this one. And everyone's been requesting Gilbert and Antonio's world, so that's in reserve. Is there anything else that you want me to do? Social Link episodes are in too, cause I'm so redoing the Halloween Arc :D**

**And sorry for the short chapter. The titles for 57-59 are all lyrics for a country song that I think fits really well with the Holy Roman Empire arc, so I hope you deal with me.**

**And like all fanfiction I write, expect the fluffiest GerIta you've ever read next chapter.**


	59. Lay Me Down on a Bed of Roses

**And here's your GerIta fluff. Hope you're happy. Cause I can do this.**

**/= [DAY 66] =/**

He had no idea how in the world he walked back to his dorm room without a single tear leaving his eyes. But he had done so without anyone being suspicious, which was good, concerning that one of the people that he passed was Roderich and he didn't want to talk to him especially. He slammed the door behind him and sulked on the couch, rubbing his face with his hands.

The hands that just a few minutes ago held the love of his life.

There was no manual out there in the world that could possibly tell him how to get through with something like this. Sure there was one to get over stress and guilt, but do they talk about how to get over someone you love when you learn that they loved you back the minute they died? Do they talk about how to wake up in the morning every day without crying and clinging onto the bed?

He had no idea just how he kept all these conflicting emotions inside. Now he was going to live with them for the rest of his waking life until he found Feliciano again. Screw what Li Xiao said: he was coming back. After so much waiting, he would not just leave him like this.

_Mein gott…when did I start thinking like this…?_

After a few minutes of moping he heard a small knock on the door. He held back the emotions yet again and headed to the door, hesitant on opening it again until he heard another small knock that almost sounded nonexistent. Ludwig fell silent as he lightly touched the door handle before he threw it open. Instantly, a body fell pass the door and collapsed into his arms. Ludwig froze as he noticed that it was Feliciano's body. He cursed openly.

"_The murdering bastard…he had the guts to throw his body on me like this…"_ He spat, his hands holding the body. _"I will find him and he will discover the fears of Nazi Germany…"_

"…_no…please…don't, Doitsu…"_

He froze at the voice. Before he could turn his head, he felt the fingers of the body before him twitch a little before he noticed that it was clinging lightly on his shirt. His head started to move until he leaned on Ludwig's shoulder, too tired to move all the way to see him. Ludwig's voice quivered.

"…_F-Feli…?"_

The grip on his shirt tightened as he felt a light nod on his chest, again losing momentum as he lost energy. Ludwig quickly closed the door as he lifted up the Italian to the bedroom, lying him down and took his shoes off so as not to stain the bed. As he was slowly taking off the uniform for him to sleep, he would always look back at his face and see Feliciano's unwavering gaze on him, not looking away. Instantly his memory flashed, transforming back into the bloody room, with the terrified look on his face as the last of his life was draining away…

His fingers twitched and a look of pain was on his face. Feliciano leaned toward him and lightly held his hand, bringing it to his face. The warmth was the only thing that brought him back into reality.

"_I'm sorry for not saving you…"_ He whispered in his ear. _"You must've been so scared…"_

"_I was…but I knew that you were going to rescue me."_ The Italian replied, cuddling around his arm. _"Even if I wasn't alive…"_

"_Don't. Say that…"_ Ludwig leaned closer until they touched foreheads. _"I'm sorry. I was…I was forced to be a distraction by the murderer…"_

"_A-a distraction?"_ Feliciano looked up, terrified. _"You were…"_

"_I was attacked too…"_ Ludwig closed his eyes. _"I didn't survive either."_

He heard a small gasp coming from the boy, and opened to see that Feliciano had a terrified look on his face. He looked like he was going to cry. Silently, he lifted his hand and caressed his cheeks, hearing him whimper in his breath.

"_You were…killed?"_

"…_yes…"_

"…_how?"_

"_Feli?"_

"_I don't want to be left in the dark anymore…I wondered how you died before, and never got the answer…"_ He looked down. _"I can take it…"_

"…" Ludwig took a deep breath. _"I was suffocated…and sliced in four pieces…with my throat slit…"_

After a few minutes, he wondered why he actually spilled out all that information. For after his voice drifted away, he felt arms lightly wrap around his neck and a quiet whimper echoed into his ear. He looked up and saw that Feliciano's eyes were now completely covered with tears.

"_Ludwig…did…did all that happen?"_

"_Yes…all that happened."_ He answered. _"Everything happened."_

"_So…I-I tried to kill you…"_

"_Your emotions had been kept away for so long…I was not surprised at all."_

"_But…I-I tried to kill you…after you told me hat you were Holy Rome…"_

"_I wasn't expecting you to believe me at first…"_

"…_but you were Holy Rome…"_

"_You believed me…?"_

"_When you told me everything back there…those were things that I knew only he would know…"_ Feliciano shivered. _"I'm…I'm so sorry that I hurt you…"_

"_It's OK, I'm fine…I'm fine…"_ Ludwig smiled. _"What about you…?"_

"_I'm…I'm so glad that you came back to me…after all this time…"_

"…_but the fact that you waited for this long…and it made you suffer so much…"_ He held him close to his body. _"If I came faster, you wouldn't have sealed your heart away like this…"_

"_Doitsu…please don't worry about this…everything's over. You're back, we're both safe…"_ Feliciano rubbed against Ludwig's arm, holding across his waist to emphasize that. _"But…do you still love me?"_

"_Feli?"_

"_Do you love me…despite the fact that I'm a man?"_

Ludwig could only smile and lightly kissed his lips, hearing a small coo escape his lips before returning the favor. The work that he was supposed to do for tomorrow was quickly forgotten, as he was too busy trying to make up for lost time with the man of his dreams. None of them were able to sleep that night, and by the sound of it none of them wanted to.

**/= [DAY 67] =/**

Charice stretched her arms as she walked in front of the dormitory to her Friday classes. As she stepped forward, she looked and saw Antonio stretching his arms and seeing her walk. His face immediately turned to that of concern as he headed toward her in a rush that freaked her out.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She tilted her head. "Why?"

"Well, after what happened yesterday …"

"Yeah, it's fine. It was just a Shadow, not actually him."

"Charice, really. You don't have to hide anything…"

He looked up, tempting her to look up as well. Instantly, she saw a sunrise and two figures walking toward her. They were Ludwig and Feliciano, serious looks on their faces, but with the Italian holding his arm close to his body. They both stopped a good distance from the both of them, and the seriousness on both of them freaked her out.

"There's a murderer on the loose." Ludwig stated.

"Yeah." She answered.

"You have no idea who the murderer might be."

"Yes. And we're trying to find out who he is."

"…he won't ever be forgiven for what he had done to us." The German growled. "If you will allow it, we will offer our services to you."

"The more the merrier…" Charice stated with a smile. "Especially someone with a Persona as powerful as yours."

"Thank you…that means a lot to us." Ludwig grinned _(a strange grin that actually made his eyes sparkle…a strange color)_. "Cause there are a lot of things that I want to…well…_**discuss**_ with this man…"

"You'll have to get in line, Ludwig." Antonio grinned as well _(is that a shadow over his eyes?)_. "Cause I already got first dibs."

"Please leave some for us, fratello Antonio." Feliciano smiled, his fingertip touching his lip _(and…his eyes are glowing…)_. "There are a lot of things we like to tell him…"

_**WHY THE HELL DO THESE THREE HAVE PSYCHO GRINS ON THEIR FACES?**_

Charice turned away and walked…very…very…quickly. And then screamed the other half.

**/=+=/**

**Hey, guess what? MORE FILLER TO COME!**


	60. Some After Effects

**Filler, Filler, Filler! Guess what? YAY!**

**/= [DAY 67] =/**

She decided why not and hijacked the newspaper club meeting during lunch. The Filipina sank into her seat as the four others stared at her in confusion before Feliciano hugged her and they all decided that she might as well stay. Worst decision ever made? Most likely.

"So do you guys have an article idea for this month's newspaper?" Charice asked.

"Ve~~~we have a lot of ideas!" Feliciano chirped.

"None of them are actually developed…" Rizal sighed. "But we have something."

"Do we have a fashion article?" She asked.

"Feliciano's doing that." Kiku stated.

"…I knew it." She nodded. "Anything else?"

"Kiku's doing the entertainment section." Feliciano stated.

"I knew it." Charice nodded as well. "Anything else?"

"Well, Doitsu's doing the food section." Feliciano squeaked.

"…**really?"**

"It's not that strange, Charice." Ludwig folded his arms. "I am a food critic as well."

"…**REALLY?"**

"Ve~~~I think he's doing national beer."

"Yes. I believe so." Kiku looked up. "I think a week ago, saying that he was doing it for the article, he…"

***insert visual here***

…

…

…

"_**I KNEW IT!"**_

"Ah-! *ahem* c-can we please keep going with the meeting…?"

**/= [DAY 68] =/**

Saturday rehearsals were annoying, but hey, if someone's walking around in sexy uniforms…well…she's there. As she headed through the auditorium door, she saw Roderich, Elizabeta, Kiku, Arthur, Alfred and Feliciano there, looking around in confusion.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"I'm…I'm not sure." Roderich answered. "No one else is here…"

"We were supposed to be doing a full run through with everyone in the cast." Kiku rubbed the back of his head. "Unless Francis told me something…"

"Ve~~~I think he said something about moving the Saturday run through to next week…" Feliciano tapped his lip.

"And you didn't tell us this, man?" Alfred asked.

"Ve~~~h-he caught me at a bad time…"

"…w-what bad time?" Elizabeta asked.

"Ve~~~"

…

…

…

"_**WHOA! **__**TOO MUCH INFORMATION!**__**"**_

"Seriously? Awesome!" Elizabeta chirped. She and Charice were extremely happy for the rest of _**FOREVER**_.

"_Well, we can't do a run through now…"_ Arthur mumbled.

"Wait, weren't we supposed to stage the final scene anyway?" Charice stated. "Couldn't we just do that today?"

"That's true…" Kiku stated. "But Francis has the plan for the scene."

"Hell, I'll do it!" Charice grinned. "It doesn't seem that hard!"

"Well, if we're going this far…" Kiku smiled, pulling out a small box. "I wanted you to test these out. Me and Yong Soo made them."

"What are they?" Elizabeta asked.

"They're…robes?" Arthur blinked.

"They glow through the curtain, according to what I tested out." Kiku stated. "Adds a nice _'ghostly'_ effect."

"Sweet. Unless Francis is planning something _**totally**_ against what I'm about to do, you guys better head over to the back."

Charice gestured the two of them behind the curtain and pushed Alfred and the cutest Italian thing in the world to the left of the stage, allowing Roderich to come in from the right. In a light speed, she was able to get Kiku in on what she was planning, and he was quickly onboard with everything.

After about an hour of staging _("dammit, Alfred…those __**ARE NOT **__ghosts in the background!")_, Charice was finally able to get the whole scene down and locked. She forced a run through _(to which Alfred openly objected to…and she forced with a broomstick)_ and when the music started, everything looked in place. The lighted blankets worked in the background, and she saw how beautiful the scene made itself.

That's when she saw it.

At the first light, she saw pale skin sliced in half. At the first step, someone was screaming and burning in flames. At the second step, someone was telling her that everything was alright through gunfire. Once the light faded, she was already curled up in her seat.

"Charice?"

She didn't even hear Kiku's words, for at the sound of his voice, she could already see his face covered with blood that was splattered from his slit stomach. The whole thing had to be stopped as they saw Charice having a random panic attack out of nowhere. Feliciano knew what this was about and quietly guided her out into the lobby, where she quickly grabbed breaths of air.

"…thanks…Feli-chan…"

"…this was my fault, wasn't it…"

"Hah?"

"Something happened in my world that affected you, didn't it?" He asked, his eyes filled with worry. "Please tell me. I want to help you."

"…well…remember on Halloween when you had nightmares of people dying?" Charice couldn't lie to him, not when he asked for the truth. "I think I lived through that."

"Ve~! Y-you saw my nightmares?"

"…seventeen times. Each a different way to die." She answered, shivering. "I think after the sixth part, they tried not to scream so that I wouldn't freak out or something."

"…I'm sorry."

"Eh?"

"Brother Spain told me that you lived a sheltered life because of how Rizal protected you…and you haven't seen as much death as we did." Feliciano stated, sighing.

_Yeah…stuff right out of horrible Mary Sue fanfiction._ Charice sighed as well. _Good god, I'm a Mary Sue._

"So…to think that you've seen so much of that…all in one take, multiple times…"

"Don't worry about it, Feli-chan. Please don't." Charice took his shoulders. "Look, death is a hard thing for me to handle right now, but I'll get over it. It's what nations do."

"Charice…"

"I'm a nation. I'm bound to see something like this one of these days. Hell, I've seen more gory films than most people…at the same time, which probably wasn't the best thing for me to do, but…" She sighed. "Seeing years of fake blood really doesn't prepare you for five minutes of the real deal."

"No…no it doesn't…"

_My god…hold crap I __**AM**__ a Mary Sue…_

It was then that Charice saw Feliciano reach out and, for the first time, hug her first. She obviously returned the hug, feeling the warmth and kindness that radiated from the Italian. It felt extremely good being at the receiving end of a hug for once.

And then her Cute-Obsession mode came back.

**/= [DAY 70] =/**

_Has anyone ever told the teacher how much I hate limits on a graph?_

Charice sighed as she thought about her homework for a few minutes before hearing something that sounded like martial arts training. She blinked and turned the corner to see Wang Yao instructing Elizabeta about her punches and stuff like that.

"…what's going on?" She blinked.

"Oh, Charice! Yao's teaching me kempo!" Elizabeta answered. "There're rumors of a molester going around, so I'm learning kempo as a self-defense!"

"Self-defense while promoting good health! You should try this out too aru!" Wang Yao stated. "The molester might be anywhere!"

_The rumors of a molester go out NOW?_ This school really sucks in terms of security…

"Oiii~!" It was Francis' voice. "Hello there, Charice!"

And it was then that he gave her a hug from behind. With the whole rumors about the molester thing and whatnot, five milliseconds later Charice grabbed his arm and flipped him to the ground. The others watched in shock as Francis quickly rose to his feet.

"Hey! You didn't have to do that!" He argued.

"Well then, _**stop being all France-like when we're talking about **__**FREAKING MOLESTERS IN OUR SCHOOL!**__**"**_

"Aw…you don't want a hug from Big Brother France?"

"Do you want a knuckle sandwich served with your order?"

He shut up.

"Oi, querida! How are you toda-"

She wasn't taking any chances. She literally turned around and roundhouse kicked him to the wall _(to the horror of the others)_. Five seconds after that, she realized it was only Antonio. She panicked.

"_**GAH! **_Sorry, sorry, sorry! We were talking about molesters, and-"

"_You're…learning so quickly…Charice…"_ He passed out cold.

"Geez! I wasn't expecting him to be thrown against the _**wall!**__**"**_ Charice panicked.

"Wow…such technique, aru!" Yao clapped his hands. "Yes, you would do well to learn the art back at my home!"

"Wait, _**now?**__**"**_ Charice blinked. "But there's school…and travelling…and stuff-"

"Heeey, it's E-"

There was a hand to push her out of the way. No chances. She elbowed him in the face, chopped his neck and literally swung him into the field. She looked over and realized it was Gilbert.

"…no regrets."

"No regrets indeed." Elizabeta winked.

**/= [DAY 71] =/**

So there she was, trying to get books for her research paper, wondering how the heck she was going to do something about Chinese history with China literally in the room _(I know, right?)_ when she realized that there was someone in the back of the room. She blinked and turned her head.

"Kiku?"

"Ah, Char-chaaan!"

…

"Something's not right here…"

"Ah-! I-I'm sorry…" Kiku blushed. "I've…I've said something weird again, haven't I?"

"Again…? What, is Espen handing off drugs again, or…?"

"No! No no no…I-I've been talking to Feliciano recently."

"…and _**he**_ offered you drugs?"

"No!" Kiku shook his head. "I-I've taken his speaking habits again."

"Oh."

"S-so I end up speaking like him…ah, the Japanese are so easy to influence…"

"So…let me get this straight…" Charice blinked. "Talking to him for too long makes you talk like him?"

"…hai."

"And that's why you're hiding here?"

"Yes…until it goes away."

"…why?"

"Eh?"

"You talking like Feli-chan makes you so much cuter, you know! I'm not saying that it's a good thing, but I'm just saying not to be embarrassed about it!"

Kiku actually blushed for a minute before he smiled.

"Ah~~~thank you, Chari-chan. I will think about that statement the next time it happens. Ve~~~"

…

…

…

…

"**AH!"**

…

…

…

…

"Please excuse me…I believe I need to go into isolation for the next 250 years."

"Eh?"

…

…

…

…

"No. **No. **_**NO. **_Get out of there, Kiku! Out of the hole. _**Out of the hole, right now.**_ There will be _**no **_isolation policies here, mister! _**NO **_isolation polici- hey, **NO JUMPING OUT THE WINDOW!**_**GET THE HELL BACK HERE!**__**"**_

**/=+=/**

**Espen**** is the Netherlands.**

**And let me question on why this is happening now.**


	61. The Seven Wonders of the School

**And now…MORE FILLERS!**

**/= [DAY 72] =/**

There was something weird going on today. First of all, Elizabeta and Erika were talking about something when she entered the chorus room. Secondly, they were the only ones in the room. As Charice walked in, the two of them squeaked in surprise but quickly relaxed once they saw here.

"We thought you were someone else!" Elizabeta sighed.

"Like what?" She blinked. "A guy?"

"Someone suspicious!" Elizabeta answered. "You see, me and Erika are doing a submitted article about the seven wonders of this school!"

"We have _**WONDERS?"**_

"Of course we do. All academies have them, and we have seven we need to look into!" She pointed at her notepad. "If you want, Charice, you can join us!"

"_**SWEEEEET!"**_

**/=+=/**

"So what's the first one?"

"It's in the sculptures room." The Hungarian answered. "According to rumors, the sculptures talk to each other and even _**move!**__**"**_

"Wow." Erika gasped. "I want to see moving sculptures."

"…we have a _**sculpting **_class…?"

While Charice mauled that around in her head for a few minutes, they finally found the art classroom. They entered the room before looking around at the sculptures that were there. She had to admit: whoever made them was very skilled at their ability to make rocks look human.

"…I don't hear anything."

"We've just got in here." Elizabeta stated.

"Yeah…ten minutes ago."

They stared at everything for a few minutes before realizing that nothing was happening and…

"Someone's here!"

The three of the quickly jumped into hiding _(must be ninja like that)_ before looking up and realizing that it was only one of the students Charice never saw before. He had long, semi-curly hair with dazed eyes and olive skin, and…was that a cat on his shoulder? She didn't really know.

"…_the heck is this guy?"_ She blinked.

"…_is someone there…?"_ He stated, barely registering in her eardrums _(even worse so than Matthew, my goodness)_. The cat meowed quietly. _"I guess not…well then…let's pick it up from yesterday…"_

Before their very eyes, they saw this man walk to one of the statues and started to move them around. Charice quickly confirmed this rumor and continued to watch as he turned his head to one of the statues, pulled up a chair, sat down, and then proceeded to just stare at it.

"_What do you think, Apollon?"_

She heard nothing, but he nodded.

"_I see…a very interesting thought…"_ He turned his head. _"What about you, Thinker? Still thinking? OK…"_

The three of them left, unable to figure out what else to say.

**/=+=/**

"So that's one rumor down…" Charice stated. "What's the next one?"

"Well…this one has to deal with the rumors of a ghost…" Elizabeta stated. "Sometimes you can hear someone's voice, other times you can feel a chill down your spine…"

"A-ah!" Erika shivered. "I just felt a chill!"

Charice felt that chill too, but it was a chill that she was oddly used to. The two girls were looking around trying to figure out what that chill came from as Charice rubbed her chin and tried to hear the oncoming footsteps. She whirled her head around as the chill came back to the three of them.

"Hey, Ivan!"

"Ne~~~good afternoon, Charice." He waved back. "What are the three of you doing around here?"

"We're looking up the seven wonders of this academy!" Charice answered. "And I guess we just solved one of them!"

"Ne~~~that sounds like fun, da?"

"I know! I didn't even know that we even _**had**_ wonders in this school other than the fact that it was built by Germans!"

"Charice, it was built by Americans."

…

…

"It was built by _**GERMAN AMERICANS.**__**"**_

"But that doesn't explain the voice part of the rumors…" Erika stated. "I've heard the voice a couple of times, and it didn't sound like Ivan-"

"_E-excuse me…"_

"AH!" She jumped. "That was the voice!"

"Oh, hah!" Charice laughed. "Hey there, Matthew~!"

"_Um…h-hi there, Charice…"_

"Aren't you just the most adorable thing here?"

"_C-Charice…y-you're breaking my ribcage…"_

**/=+=/**

"That's the second one. Number three?"

"Well, it started recently, but it had something to do with flying fish outside around this time." Elizabeta stated. "It's always a different fish, every day. Brightly colored, extremely beautiful…"

"I want to see one…" Erika seemed interested.

Charice nodded as she looked around the meadows for any signs of flying fish. Before she knew it, she caught the glimpse of one flying just a few feet away. It was bright blue with purple scales, flying in circles in the air like it was swimming in water. The three of them stood dumbfounded at that fish before realizing they had to investigate it.

"What should we do?" Erika asked.

"Take a lot of pictures for that one!" Elizabeta pulled out her camera. "Maybe we'll see something."

Charice had other ideas. She headed deeper into the forest on the chance that she could be underneath the fish and get better pictures from there. She was expecting anything from weird aliens to even a fish colony. What she wasn't expecting was seeing Li Xiao holding up a string almost as if he was holding up a kite. Or a…

"Oh. OK, that makes sense."

"Charice?" He looked up. "What brings you here?"

"I just looked up at the sky and saw nothing but a huge fish. Imagine what I was thinking."

"Ah." Li Xiao laughed. "Well, as you can see, you will be very disappointed."

"Well, the flying fish is actually nothing but a Chinese kite. The world makes sense again, doesn't it?" Charice laughed. "Either that or someone divided by zero again!"

"…?"

"Ahahaha…Alfred joke, don't mind me."

"Ah…well, I guess I can call it a day…" He looked up. "You came alone, right?"

"Hypothetically, no. Two other people are looking at this kite from the school as we speak. I came here alone."

"Ah…well then…"

He slowly looped it in a circle before making it land just a few feet away from them. As it was hidden in the trees, Charice saw Li Xiao quickly roll up the kite strings until it was hidden safely under his arms.

"Better keep this one a legend, huh aru?"

"Yep." She zipped her lips. "Run, now!"

He made his move, dashing into the trees like some Chinese ninja. Before long, Elizabeta and Erika came running through, asking if she had seen the fish land. All Charice did was shrug and say that it faded into the distance somewhere. They looked at each other and declared it a true legend. Charice laughed.

**/=+=/**

Compared to those three, the next three were a bit of a bummer. One of them involved the strange spawning of cakes and pastries from the kitchen every so often in the afternoon. Upon closer inspection, it was nothing more than Ludwig baking some cakes for the upcoming Thanksgiving event and then some. He bribed them to keep it a secret, and Charice walked out with two cakes.

The fifth wonder had something to do with ground shakes every now and then in the Northern Wing. Charice didn't even have to think twice before concluding that it had something to do with Arthur. And she'd be right. It turned out that he was able to move his Dark Artes circle and workshop into the school, turning it into a downright club. Odd enough that he had _**members**_, too. Only one of them was introduced _(Ion, from Romania)_ before they were able to partake in a summoning that again only got Ivan's head. The girls left disappointed.

The sixth wonder, unfortunately, included the strange overabundance of tomatoes every now and then. Dare I say more?

All Charice could hope for was that the seventh wonder was something worth her while. She looked up to Elizabeta.

"What's this one?" She asked.

"Well, this one is the strangest one yet. We waited until this time to look at it because it's the only time it comes out." She answered.

"…what comes out?"

"…" She turned to them. "The Weeping Angel."

"W-what?" _Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit_ "W-Weeping Angel?"

"Yeah…it comes around the night and supposedly walks around the school." Elizabeta stated. "You can hear it crying sometimes, and when you actually see it, it's _**bleeding**_ and calling for someone to help them."

_Wait a minute._ "Weeping Angels don't actually bleed and cry…"

"They don't?" Erika asked.

"**No! They're solid stone and they look like angel statues and when you see them you can't turn away because if you turn away or blink they turn to life and either fucking **_**snap your neck**_** or ****SEND YOU TO THE NEXT FREAKING DIMENSION AND MANIPULATE **_**EVERYONE YOU KNOW!**__**"**_

"…you're scared of this Weeping Angel, aren't you?"

"_**FUCK YES!"**_

"Well, this Weeping Angel actually cries and moves even when you look at it. And it bleeds."

_This is one messed up Weeping Angel._

Nonetheless, Charice was forced to hunt for a crying statue that might kill them all. What joy. As the three of them slowly walked through the hallways, she couldn't help but wonder something: an angel? Would that mean that they were talking about Arthur? She was getting extremely confused.

It was then that she heard someone sobbing from behind the kendo club doors. Elizabeta was hesitant, but she threw open the door and she and Erika looked in. Instantly, the smell of blood filled Charice's nostrils, the two other girls screamed and the three of them started running.

Until the angel hiccupped.

Charice paused. She knew that type of crying before.

She heard it millions of times.

Her knees started to knock together as she slowly approached the door, the blood really starting to get to her. She took a deep breath, willing herself to grab the nearest weapon on the off chance that this was the murderer, and threw herself in front of the door. Instantly, she saw a figure sobbing on his knees, a pool of blood flowing freely from open wounds on his wrists, palms and forehead. The angel looked up, familiar gold eyes shining at her.

"Oh my god, Feli-chan!" She ran to him. "Are you OK? What's going on?"

Feliciano continued sobbing, more blood flowing from his wounds the more tears leaked from his eyes. Her head tried to figure out what to say to him to calm him down, but only two things came to her mind.

One: The emotions that he had been holding back for hundreds of years, while it should be slowly leaking out, are now gushing out like a flood and Feliciano can't handle it.

Two: He had stigmata.

"_Feliciano?"_ She leaned closer to him. _"Can you hear me? Feli?"_

"…_it hurts…it hurts…"_ He sobbed, the blood getting worse. _"I know Heilrich is back…I know that he's Germany…so why does it still hurt when I think of him…?"_

"_You're just letting go right now, Feliciano. All that emotion you held up is coming out now…"_

"_I don't __**want**__ to let it go…my head is getting dizzy…"_

It was then that she realized that Feliciano was losing blood fast. She had no idea what to do at this point until she heard a slam behind her. She almost screamed, turning her head and seeing a rather shocked Ludwig staring at what was going on. Charice quickly jumped out of the way as Ludwig went to Feliciano and held his shoulders.

"Feli…Feli, look at me."

"…_ah…"_ He looked up weakly. _"…L-Lud…?"_

"_This is enough. Your body can't handle this pain. Look at me, look at me…it's over. It's all right. I'm here."_

Feliciano's body shivered as Ludwig leaned in and kissed him, feeling the last of the shiver before he collapsed into his arms. Charice was about to yelp when Ludwig started to wipe the blood away from his skin. Surprisingly, the stigmata were gone from his body.

"…what…?"

"He obtained these stigmata around the time that I left. He was emotional and sometimes cried about me when I was at war…and usually he would stain entire bedsheets at a time." He explained. "Once Roderich found out, he taught Feliciano to at least hide his emotions to at least control the stigmata."

"The wounds are…?"

"The wounds are connected to his emotions. The more emotions he let go, the more the stigmata bleeds." Ludwig lifted up Feliciano's body and looks around the kendo room. "Being a nation, he doesn't have to risk bleeding to death…but it hurts him twice as much when it happens."

"Poor Feli-chan…"

"It's been accelerating ever since I regained my memories, probably because he no longer has to hold anything back…but still, this worries me…"

"Have you talked to Feliciano about it?"

"I have. He's the only one that is open to me about this…and to think that this is despite the fact that I'm the cause of this…"

"If you caused it, at least you're helping Feli-chan."

"Yeah…" He turned around. "I have to take care of him now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See ya."

**/=+=/**

**Don't ask, man. Please don't ask.**


	62. A Bit of Relationship Problems

**Fillers, albeit long, are awesome.**

**/= [DAY 73] =/**

When she walked to the kendo room, she was surprised to see that the blood from yesterday was gone. Instead, she saw Kiku swinging a wooden sword at a target with a speed she only saw in anime. She quietly closed the door behind her, causing him to look up and smile.

"Ah. Charice." He straightened himself. "What brings you here?"

"I just learned that we had a kendo room." She answered. "So I wanted to take a look."

"Yeah, well…it was upon my request that this room is built upon this campus." Kiku answered. "You see, I take bushido extremely seriously and I practice it whenever I can."

"Ah, I see." She nodded. "Explains why you were able to use the katana so quickly in the other world! It took me a while to remember how to use my poleaxe!"

"A true samurai must always keep his guard up, even in times of peace." He answered again, his wooden sword spinning in his hands. "Do you wish to practice with me?"

"I suck at the sword. Is there anything like a poleaxe around here?"

"There's a naginata shaped similarly to your weapon hanging on the wall over there. I allow you to use it."

"_**Sweet!"**_

Kiku watched as she grabbed it and started swinging it around like she knew exactly what she was doing. There was a sense of seriousness and maturity that he had only seen when she was trying to save someone's life or cheering someone up with a statement that made no sense whatsoever. She was just radiating something that might've been confidence but was too dumb to be that.

Especially after she tripped and landed on the wall.

**/= [DAY 74] =/**

She was surprised that, with all the blood he lost, Feliciano was back in school and sitting in a classroom with a sad look on his face. Charice quickly sat next to him, making him _"meep!"_ in surprise and turn to see the _(almost)_ Cute-Obsessed woman smiling back at him.

"You sure you should be back?" She asked.

"I…I didn't lose that much blood…and from what I heard no one was asking…" He smiled. "Thank you for not telling anyone about…"

"It's fine…stigmata is a holy symbol supposedly sent by God. And I guess it's a symbol of the Vatican City in your boundaries." Charice stated, pulling out her thermos and swirling it around. "I was more worried than anything, but-"

"Doitsu took good care of me…made sure I didn't bleed to death…" He "ve~d" cutely. "He looked so serious that I passed out again…"

Charice almost jumped from the **tsundereness** that was Germany.

"Awwww…you even have a nickname for him~! How cute~!" She chirped. "Besides, how are the both of you doing anyway?"

That was when he fell silent, causing Charice to get extremely worried. To calm herself down, she quickly took a sip of the water in her thermos. _Hey, it's natural for couples to get into arguments, right? I mean…it's probably nothing big, it's just a stupid argument that they're going to-_

"I-I think Doitsu doesn't love me anymore!"

***cue the SPPEEAAAAWWWWW***

"He kisses me when I want too, but most of the time he pushes me away and doesn't want to look at me or something like that! Ve~~~what if he doesn't love me anymore because he thinks I love him because he's Heilrich? _**VEEEE~!"**_

"…wait…" She coughed up a bit of her life. "H-he does show you affection sometimes, right?"

"Ve~~~y-yes…"

"But not most of the time?"

"Yes…"

"Quick question…does he reject affection when there are other people around? Like public places and stuff?"

"…si…w-why?"

Charice threw her head back and started dying of laughter, making Feliciano extremely worried. Most of her laughing fits were mixed up with words like _"oh thank god!"_ or _"that wasn't that bad!"_ before she took a deep breath and looked at the worried Italian in the face.

"You have nothing to worry about!" She laughed again. "That's not rejection, that's German custom!"

"Ve?"

"What, you've never been to Germany before? I mean, you must've seen it around them! I'm the one with the German phobia and even _**I**_ knew that!" She stated. "Germans aren't like Italians or French people! They don't like showing any romantic affection in public places…like a local custom or something like that. They're OK with showing affection, just not in the open."

"Ve~~~I never noticed that…"

"Really? Come on, we've gone there in meetings, you should've noticed it! They're all very serious people and it all reflects on their respective nation." She stated. "Hence, Ludwig is a serious man to reflect a serious nation. I mean, if it wasn't a serious nation, he'd be someone like Arthur…or even someone like you or Francis-"

…

…

…

…

"Ve~~~Ch-Charice?"

_***traumatized***_

**/=+=/**

They were sitting in the campus garden, Feliciano and Ludwig, looking forward as the German was reading a book for his Languages class and the Italian looking at the sky. After a few minutes of silence, the boy turned and saw Ludwig's stray hand just a few feet from him. Silently, he reached for the hand, only for it to be jerked away at light skin contact. He looked up and saw Ludwig with an embarrassed look on his face, a confirmation on what Charice had told him. It was then that Ludwig noticed Feliciano staring at him.

"Is something wrong?"

"Ve~!" His eyes turned away. "N-nothing…"

Feliciano never felt so shy in his entire life. He was supposed to be a true Italian, chasing women alike with his cuteness charm, _**especially**_ the shy ones. So when did he become so shy? Since when did Doitsu stop reading his book? Since when was he just inches from his face? He squeaked in shock.

"**Tell me."** His voice demanded.

"…" His eyes turned away again. _"I-Is…is Doitsu embarrassed…being around me?"_

Ludwig was surprised at his statement.

"_I-I mean…Doitsu shows me all the love that I can possibly imagine…Doitsu's so gentle with me…and yet when Doitsu and I outside our rooms Doitsu doesn't like being kissed. Doitsu doesn't like holding hands. I was told it was normal, but…"_ Feliciano covered his mouth. _"I-Is it because I make Doitsu work too hard when I'm around him?"_

It was then that he realized something strange about Feliciano: he doesn't use pronouns for other people when he's emotional or scared. His eyes instinctively darted to his risen wrists and forehead to make sure that he wasn't bleeding, and was grateful to see that there was nothing. Ludwig lifted up his hand and caressed his lover's face, causing him to squeak.

"_D-Doitsu…?"_

Ludwig leaned in closer until their lips made full, soft contact, his arm wrapping around the other's waist. The Italian felt all of the other's body pressing against him, like he was a bubble protecting a child from being hurt. They quietly parted, definitely breaking Ludwig's comfort zone and his blushing face clearly showing it.

"_I'm not embarrassed being around you…I'm just used to what I was raised to do."_ He stated. _"If it was bothering you that much, you should've told me."_

"…_I…I thought Doitsu would be mad…"_

He chuckled, thinking that his strange speaking habits were just the cutest things ever, making the Italian extremely embarrassed yet again. They closed in for another warm kiss, hearing the Italian coo in happiness before he melted in the other's touch. Just as they thought that they were alone, they heard hooting and hollering and what looked like _**confetti**_ being shot in the air. Ludwig mumbled something that should not be repeated before looking up to whoever was there and was screaming at them in German to get the hell out of there, holding Feliciano close the entire time. He cooed softly in his arms.

"Damn! I wanted to see more!"

"That's what you get for yelling so much!"

"I wanted to use the fireworks too!"

"_**It's the middle of the FREAKING DAY!"**_

Feliciano looked up and realized that about half the entire campus came out of the bushes and leave them alone, causing him to squeak and hide behind Ludwig again. He heard someone that sounded like Charice before hearing said person being dragged away against their will. He didn't care. He had Doitsu with him.

**/=+=/**

**So you know a bit about the German custom, yet are too scared to find out yourself eh? Did you get a very resourceful outside source, Charice XD?**


	63. Fun In the Glee Club

**I'm running out of filler ideas O-o**

**/= [DAY 75] =/**

"All right, we have our next Glee Club meeting! Let's get to order!" Alfred lifted his hands, calming the crowd. "As you can see, we officially have this auditorium for our meeting place…because we can. And cause this is an American school…but whatever~! We're getting ready for the Christmas concert, aren't we?"

"Che. What, no Thanksgiving Concert?" Lovino sighed.

"Ahahaha~! That's the time of the musical, Lovi-chan!" Antonio laughed.

"It's _**LOVINO!**__**"**_

"So tsundere, Lovi-chan!"

"_**DAMN YOU, Charice!"**_

"Whatever, whatever~!" Alfred slapped his hands together. "I've been aware that there are some performances that people want to perform today, so for those of you in them, please head to the back. Everyone else, please wait here and don't go backstage, kays?"

The majority of the guys were gone, leaving a few people alone in the audience. She turned her head and realized that Ivan was sitting in quiet anticipation…alone for some reason. That was odd, because she could've _**sworn**_ that Natalya was-

"_**HOLY SHIT!**__**"**_

"Are you eying my Ivan?" She spat.

"_N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-nooo…I was just wondering…w-w-w-who was here…and I thought he'd be somewhere else…I'm the co-president after all…t-the one i-in charge of…a-a-a-attendance…"_

"I see." She flopped back. "You know what I speak of."

"Seriously? Tall guys aren't my type." She answered with a shiver. "At least an inch over me. I see you like your brother…a…lot."

"I love him. And we will get married and be together forever."

"…why?"

Natalya stared at her as if she was crazy. Charice knew that she stepped over the line when it came to this conversation topic. Might as well pass the boarder and head up to Washington, huh? Hope the border patrol doesn't shoot her back into the next universe now…

"Well…you can't just marry someone because you just want to…there's supposed to be a good reason-"

"_**I love him, **_Charice."

"But by the looks of it, he's terrified of you." She could _**not**_ believe she's nailing her own coffin in this. Thank god there are others around her. "How would he marry you if he's that terrified?"

"Because that is what he wants."

"Eh?"

"He wants people to become one with him. He wants to have a family again, like we had back in the Soviet Union house." Natalya stated. "And no one ever accepts his offer. So why can't he take mine…?"

_Well, he always asks that question and she's the only one that takes him up on the offer._ Maybe it's her way of saying yes? "Well…maybe you could tell him that…differently."

"What are you saying?"

"Well…stalking him is just going to drive him further away from you." Charice tapped her chin. "Maybe…just…be casual?"

"…are you _**insulting**_ me?"

"**NO!"** She screamed. "Um…no. Just…calm him down. If he keeps saying _'go away'_ to you, you're just scaring him. Maybe if you don't…obsess over him too much…he'll like you himself. On his own. And maybe…accept his offer?"

Heck, she's a Yandere. She must have a _dere_ part in there in that robotic killing machine of a body. Natalya thought of that for a moment before standing up and moving to a seat that's oddly enough _**not**_ next to Ivan. She blinked in confusion for a few minutes before hearing someone talking, the munching of popcorn(?) and someone grabbing her shoulders.

"So when's the show startin'?"

"_**Magnus?"**_ She looked up. "Since when did you get in the club?"

"I didn't! Me an' my buddies over there wanted to take a looksie at what the Glee Club's been doin'. Al does a good charge: $1 US per vist! Now ain't that cheap!"

_For certain countries, no. But whatever._ "So where the hell did you get the popcorn?"

"Just outside. Why?"

"_**Get your own. **__**THIS ONE IS MINE.**__**"**_

So after she stole the popcorn _(making him sob and tell Tino to go and get another one for him)_, she looked up and realized that the movement on the stage had stopped. A clap echoed out and the curtain opened _(who moved it?)_ to reveal that Kiku, Arthur, and the Italian bros were all wearing mafia-like outfits _(with the hats ;D)_ and in the middle was Matthew in his white mafia-like outfit, singing "Just Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble _(again, instant girl points)._ The girls took this as a hoot until…well, the girls came on.

"Oh my god, is that Antonio in pigtails and a miniskirt?"

"Jesus Christ, he has hips!"

The girls went wild, causing Magnus to mumble something to himself in Danish. Something about gouging his eyes out, I dunno. But when these "girls" look more girly than she does…well, shit happens. Halfway through the song, everyone except Feliciano abandoned the stage as he sang "Puppy Love" with puppy dog eyes so cute that Magnus and Berwald both had to keep Charice from storming the stage with the popcorn bag. Yet the voice was so mature that he couldn't help but make his boyfriend blush. God, the GerIta fluff run _**rampant**_ among these people…

It was around that time that Yong Soo came storming out of the stage with four masked guys dancing to some Korean Pop song that sounded so awesome that she wanted to download this…whatever it was…they liked saying the word "hello" a lot…interesting…too cute, too cute, too cute…she, Magnus and Erika tried to learn the dance. Halfway through, she could've sworn that one of the masked guys was Li Xiao…and he looked cute in it, almost as if he was trying to hide underneath the mask.

A couple of extra dancers added back onto the stage until they started dancing to another K-Pop song _(geez, Yong Soo, what the heck were you bribing with?)_ with the crowd of very entertained girls…and Magnus? OK, that was scary, to say the least. The crowd was getting very entertained. Erika was too busy trying to hide her fangirling, and Emil ended up getting interested.

But no song was going to top American songs in American soil, no siree! Alfred grinned before him and four other people _(holy crap, is that __**Ludwig?**__**)**_ danced to something that sounded like a boy band. Charice and Magnus were alone in this dance, but they were getting really good with this. They couldn't stop laughing the entire time.

Before they knew it, The Bad Touch Trio got Yong Soo and Li Xiao on one side of the stage while Alfred got the Allied Forces and Axis Powers on the other and did the best Korean mashup her ears ever heard. They kept screwing this one up, because the dance WAS SO DAMN HARD.

Everything was over, and the entire crowd _(whatever was there)_ started cheering at the people that came down to join them. In particular, Charice went to Li Xiao, who was just trying to go back into his comfort zone because he was obviously not used to dancing like that. They made eye contact, and Li Xiao wished he had the mask on him now.

"That was so cool, Li Xiao!"

"Um…thanks aru." He sighed, his face red. Fortunately, the stage was red and hence he couldn't be seen.

"Awww…you were great out there!"

"Thanks…I'm glad you like it. I almost passed out from the work out."

"No problem. Though I have to ask…if this is too much for you, why did you do it anway?"

"Um…personal reasons."

It was still too dark to see anything, but Li Xiao and Kiku were now in another glaring war.

"It's too bad though…all these guys were so cute…too bad all of them are gay…"

"Charice…" Li Xiao blinked. "I'm pretty sure that most of these men aren't-"

The music started up again, and the people who were left onstage were now in tight leather and dancing to another K-Pop song…only it was a song and dance that made Li Xiao question and later eat his own words. Was he seriously the only straight man in the entire school?

"That's a cool song, Yong Soo!" Alfred chirped. "Can I borrow that so that I can sing it?"

Yep, only straight man in the school.

**/= [DAY 76] =/**

"Really Charice? Such a simple outfit?"

"Oh yeah. Easy to put on, quick to change in and out of." Charice winked at Lin Yi, holding up her costume. "Made it myself~!"

"Well, at least it's one less outfit me and Yao have to worry about. All of them have to be custom made…" She sighed, walking down the hallway for the dress rehearsal. "Some of them have requests."

"Like what they want to look like?"

"Yeah…though some of them are too _**detailed**_. I mean, how am I supposed to use exactly five meters of silk for a prostitute's uniform for Hungary?"

"…distribute?"

"Do you know anything about fashion?"

"Other than to seal up holes?"

"Well, that's enough."

"Hey…odd question…" Charice stated. "Didn't Feli-chan tell you that he had his own maid uniform?"

"Yeah, he told me that. One less thing to work on."

"Actually, I want to know what Ludwig was going to have…"

Heels clacking on marble caught their attention, and they turned to see him walking toward them in his costume, embarrassed by the gaping mouths staring at him. Charice couldn't believe it: this was his Holy Roman Empire robes, minus the hat _(tucked under his robes)_ and the hair gel, holding a broom. He actually looked EIGHTEEN.

"W-what?" He asked.

"Has anyone told you how hot you are in that?"

"C-Charice!"

"No seriously, she's right."

"_**Lin Yi!"**_

The both of them snickered before turning around to walk and seeing Feliciano in his maid uniform, gasping at the broom in Ludwig's hands. Charice knew what this was about and proceed to shoo her away, gesturing to hide backstage to see more fluff fly in the air. Once they were "alone", Ludwig looked at the broom in his hand.

"Um…F-Francis said that we needed a broom for your scene, so…I got mine…"

"…this is…" Feliciano picked it up from his hands. "Mio dio…you still have it…"

"I never lost it. It was the only part of the past that I had, the one I held with my life." Ludwig explained. "I hid it from everyone, even Gilbert. No one knew of it but me."

"…it still has your scent on it…" He chuckled.

"I never go back on my promises." Ludwig smiled. "I came back for you."

"Ve~~~you did…"

They leaned on the wall before they shared a small yet deep kiss, the broom leaning patiently between them, being the witness of the promise paid, the lovers reunited, the story of pain and loss spanning years finally coming to an end.

However, they didn't seem to notice Rizal seeing the entire thing.

**/=+=/**

**Songs used in fanservice Glee Time:**

"**Just Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble**

"**Puppy Love" by Celtic Thunder**

"**Hello" by SHINee**

"**No Other" by Super Junior**

"**Shape of My Heart" by Backstreet Boys**

"**Bonamana / Lucifer Mashup" by Super Junior / SHINee **_**(found on YouTube)**_

"**Run Devil Run" by Girls' Generation **_**(written by KE$HA)**_

**Fun story with "Run Devil Run". You see, it was a song sung by SNSD, but it was demoed by KE$HA and it was leaked on YouTube. You can hear both of them online if you want to. I was told that the lyrics were different, but the music was the same. Listen to both and take your pick on favorites. They both sound awesome.**

**And when I first created the Philippine Twins, for some reason I always wanted to pair up Charice with Magnus **_**(cause pairing up main characters to OCs was bad for me…I was in on a anti-Mary Sue hunt and apparently MainChars x OCs screamed **__**MARY SUE**__**)**_**. They were both so hyper, but that dream died out with the first intro fanfic. Wonder why…?**


	64. Arthur Kirkland's Spells PART I

**Fillers are the best, aren't they?**

**/= [DAY 77] =/**

She knew something was weird when she woke up late. She would never wake up late on her own time _(especially with the alarm clock she had)_. And she was pretty sure she slept early…

There was a knock on the door, catching her off guard. She remembered screaming something in Filipino before dressing into her school uniform and heading to the door. On the other side was none other than a blank faced Li Xiao Chun, holding his bag and what looked like Charice's missing lunch. He sighed.

"So I was right in assuming you slept in?"

"Shut up, Li Xiao."

"It doesn't matter. At least I can give you the offer of walking you to the school."

"Now why would you do that?"

"…because I can."

She didn't seem to notice the faint blush going across his face as the both of them walked quietly to the school, the only topic crossing their conversations was the upcoming musical. She kept chirping away on how Ludwig and Feliciano were wearing their outfits of their childhoods, making Li Xiao shake his head and wonder just how women are into naked men. Like, seriously.

"Hey, where is everyone?"

He looked up and realized that there was no one around the hallways. The bell hadn't rung yet, so none of them would be in class. He stayed silent as Charice started calling for them around the school, seeing no one and hearing no one at all. Suddenly, there was a light sob echoing in the hallway, stopping them.

"I heard that." He blinked.

"Who was that…?"

The two of them headed forward for a few minutes before finding the classroom that the sound was coming from. Li Xiao went in first, keeping silent and hence making Charice look in to investigate. Sure enough, there was a little boy crying and attacking the chair at the same time, thinking it was a demon or something like that. He glared at turned to them.

"Are you a demon too?" He screamed.

"_**NO!"**_ She took a deep breath. "Um…no. I'm a nation."

"Charice…!" Li Xiao sighed. _"Don't say that! He might be a boy who wandered into the school!"_

"_No, there's just…__**something**__ about him. He's a nation, I'm sure of it."_

"You are both nations too?" He looked confused. "I'm confused."

"Eh?" She grinned toward a sighing Li Xiao. "What nation are you?"

"W-why would I tell you that? Are you trying to conquer me?"

"No. We're not interested in expansion." Li Xiao stated. "In this world, expansion is no longer necessary."

"You two are strange countries." He stated. "I don't trust you…but I think I can give you my name. I am Hungary-"

"_**WHAT."**_

**/=+=/**

"OK, why in the world was Hungary a man?"

"That's not the question, Charice. The question is why Hungary was a child."

"God, five bucks says that it has something to do with the Black Mage Club- _**that's it **__**WHERE'S ARTHUR?**__**"**_

"Charice-"

She started stampeding through the hallway, avoiding what looked like a child Greece and Turkey, before slamming the door open and revealing a child England, shaking in his robes and talking to himself as if he was talking to an invisible animal. Li Xiao concluded that he wouldn't be able to interrogate him about his magic, but then again Charice almost tackled him into a wall, so at this point nothing could be done to even save him at this point.

**/=+=/**

"All we can do now is hope that the magic has a time limit and wears out later…"

"I really hope so. Cause the cuteness that is Arthur's head is at risk at this point…"

Li Xiao stared at her as she started going around toward the children nations all around them. She seemed to treat all of them really well, despite the fact that she was phobic around most of them in their adult form. Around that time, he watched as she separated a fight between Austria and Prussia before Switzerland had to intervene just by using cake and the mention of Hungary in the other room.

A few minutes later, they found a childish America holding a bunny and asking her where England was. She grinned and held his hand as they led him toward his child version. America looked confused for a few minutes before looking up.

"Is that really England?" He asked.

"Yes. You see…something happened to him, and he's really vulnerable right now." She knelt down to his level. "You're a strong nation, aren't you? Can you do me a favor?"

"Y-yes." He stammered.

"I need you to watch over him, OK? He has a lot of enemies who are after him right now, and he can't fight them back." Charice stated. "Can you do that for me? Protect him with everything you got."

"I-I can't do that…!"

"You have to do it. Who else can protect him at this time?"

"…O-OK…"

"Don't worry. I have faith in you."

He nodded as he went to the little boy with a new sense of bravery, much to Li Xiao's surprise. She just chuckled at him before turning around and headed out the door, allowing Li Xiao to follow with a surprised look on his face. After a few more nations, she found herself face-to-face with a child Spain, shaking and looking around a corner as if he was terrified about something.

"…Spain?"

"_**Ah!"**_ He backed up in fear. "¿Quién eres tú? ¿Dónde estoy? ¿Son los moros aquí? ¿Se va usted a hacerme daño? Por favor, no me hagas daño...voy a ser un buen chico..."

"Hah what what the- _**HEY!**__**"**_ Charice paused for a minute. "What's going on? I can't understand what you're saying!"

"A-ah, tú eres un orador Inglés! Lo siento, no puedo hablar Inglés! Yo no soy de ese reino..."

"Charice, he doesn't speak English…"

"I can't speak Spanish…" She answered back. "Um…no habla Spanish?"

He had no idea what she was saying, and vice versa. After a few minutes, she just lunged out and hugged him. He yelped in shock before she whispered something in his ear. Li Xiao watched as the fear melted from his face and they parted, he nodded shyly before standing up and walking away, turning back once before heading further into the school.

"What did you say to him?" He asked.

"I told him _**'Find Romano'.**_ I don't think he understood me, but he looked like he did…" She turned to Li Xiao. "Have you seen Rizal?"

"Rizal?" He turned his head around. "I saw all of them at least twice, but I didn't see anyone looking like him…"

"Where could he be…he knows what I look like, since I haven't changed much over these years…" She rubbed her chin. "He should be keeping himself together…"

"We could split up and look for him." He stated. "We're in a school filled with children, so how hard can it be?"

"He's extremely violent to outsiders. I'm the only one that can calm him down." She stated. "I don't doubt your ability to find him, but-"

She didn't have to say anything else. Li Xiao knew what she was talking about. He allowed her to take on the search as they continued further through the hallways before they heard a clutter. She immediately went into the room, beginning to investigate. He was about to follow when he heard a small clatter in the other room. He blinked and opened the door, seeing a strange sight: Holy Roman Empire on the ground, holding his chest and having something that looked like a small cut on his chest.

"…Heilrich?"

He looked up in confusion, seeing Li Xiao walk forward toward his fragile figure and lean in front of him as the younger boy staggered farther away.

"…who are you? An angel?"

"No." He answered.

"A devil, then…? Sending my soul to damnation…?" He hit the wall. "I can't die here…demon…I have…a promise…to keep."

"To Italy?"

"…how do you…?"

"Don't struggle."

Li Xiao leaned forward and quietly picked him up, seeing that the boy didn't bother to struggle against his touch. As he walked out of the room, he saw a defeated Charice look up in confusion and see Li Xiao holding the quivering body of Holy Rome before gasping.

"I'm guessing that you didn't see Italy anywhere around here."

"The room was empty." She answered.

"Well, let's try finding him now."

**/=+=/**

The reunion was quicker than they thought, as they saw Chibitalia sobbing in one of the art rooms in front of a broken glass. Li Xiao walked forward to him before letting Holy Rome down and watching their reunion. They would've watched it if it hadn't been for the fact that Charice had to be pulled out of the room before strangling any of them to death.

As they were walking around, they turned their heads and saw that Ivan was sitting in the corner of the room with all the countries from the Soviet Union, talking and having fun like all children were. It was then that Charice understood what Natalya was talking about when it came to Ivan wanting a family again. He was all alone again, wasn't he?

Night was falling onto the school, and the majority of the children have somehow found their ways back to the dormitories. Li Xiao and Charice decided to give up finding Rizal and headed home, seeing what looked like a child version of Kiku staring up at the moon.

"Hey~!" She ran to him. "Ki-chan~!"

"Eh? Who are you?"

"I'm a friend of yours." She stated. "Do you have a place to sleep tonight?"

"No…I-I was just going to sleep in the grass here-"

"_**NONSENSE~!**_ You can share a bed with me." Charice picked him up. "Yaaay, I get to share a bed with a child!"

"…only if I watch over the both of you tonight." He answered.

"Hah?"

"I'll take the couch. Now walk."

"Oka~~~~y!"

**/= [DAY 78] =/**

She woke up to long arms reaching over her. She knew that the small Kiku had been clinging onto her the whole night and yet wasn't thinking it was anything weird. It was only after she woke up and realized that he was completely naked that freaked her out. But before she could scream, Kiku's eyes opened and realized just about the same thing.

He jumped out of the bed and screamed bloody murder, causing Li Xiao to enter the room and for Kiku to hide in the corner hiding the precious vital regions with the blanket. Apparently they're naked when they transform back to normal. He was shaking rapidly and whimpering to himself.

"D-d-d-d-d-d-d-did anyone s-s-s-s-s-s-see t-that?"

"What, you?" Li Xiao blinked. "I just got in the room."

"_Mmmmnnn…where's the covers…?"_ She rolled around in the bed.

"…she's half awake. You'll be fine."

**/= *there is no need to document this day, as it is nothing more than the entire time of Charice hunting Arthur down and killing him slowly* =/**

**/= *so later that night* =/**

Kiku walked into the ramen bar and saw Li Xiao there eating his ramen as if nothing was going on. He quietly ordered the same thing before sitting down next to him and eating quietly as well. They ate in silence.

"You must've had fun following Charice around."

"All we did was take care of children. It wasn't that fun."

They ate in silence.

"She almost killed half the children in her Cute-Obsession syndrome."

"She didn't kill me."

"She was tired. Otherwise I would've had to save you."

They ate in silence.

"I spent the entire day with her."

"I shared a bed with her."

"Despite the fact that you jumped out of it a few minutes later."

They ate in silence.

"We're still on the same level, Kiku."

"She'll love me eventually."

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

They ate in silence.

**/=+=/**

**The magic might come back. Damn Arthur.**


	65. Arthur Kirkland's Spells PART II

**So Li Xiao had a day with Charice when it came to spells. Why not someone else…?**

**/= [DAY 79] =/**

She had no idea why Kiku was waiting in front of her doorway that morning. He stated that he was passing by when she opened the door and offered to walk with her to the school if she wants him to. Charice was more than willing to allow him to do so, and so they skipped out the door.

"Why do I have the feeling that Arthur used another spell again…?"

"What, after I almost beat him into yesterday?" Charice grinned. "Nah, I don't think he would-"

An explosion echoed just a few feet away, and five seconds later they saw Francis flying in the air wearing the strangest outfit with red mechanical gauntlets the size of forever and with red visors over his face. He was accompanied by a screaming Tino with gauntlets and visors bearing the Finnish crest. A few feet away, they heard Anri and Lin Yi screaming at their "doji" to keep attacking as they headed further into the campus.

…

…

…

…

"Where's Arthur. I need more English blood on my hands…"

**/=+=/**

"Charice…"

"What the FUCK is going on here…at least last time it made more sense-** WAAAAAGHHH!"**

They ducked over a flying attack.

"Charice, if I may say something…" He stated. "I think this is based off a manga of mine…"

"A manga?" She cringed. "Is it that Bobobobo whatever the heck it is?"

"No, I don't think it's that…" Kiku answered. "It's something a little more serious…and by the looks of it, that's exactly what it is…"

"Do you have any proof…?"

Kiku and Charice looked out the window and watched as two other strange machines started flying in the air. They weren't the same as the last time, but definitely were mechanical beings. The two bystanders stared at each other for a few minutes before Kiku rubbed his chin.

"_**Definitely**_ that manga."

"OK then…what the hell are the rules of thumb in that manga of yours?" Charice looked at him.

"Well…there are robots in them."

"_**FANTASTIC.**_ What we need in modern New York City on a beautiful November morning: GIANT ROBOTS. Sheesh, what's next, clubs? Boy Scout cookies?"

"There is a separation between the good robots and the bad robots."

"**What."**

"Yes, seven on the good side, and eight on the evil side. Two of them are pure good and pure evil…and the remaining six represent the Six Perfections of Buddhism and the Seven Deadly Sins of Christianity." Kiku nodded. "These two sides are supposed to fight each other through their machines, which can be only be operated through their masters."

"So…what are you saying?" Charice stood up. "There are sides now?"

"Until Arthur can turn this all back to normal, there will be a war here. Hopefully, the both of us are on the same side…preferably the Good one."

"Yeah…so now what? We go machine hunting?"

"They'll find us if we are decided to be masters."

"_Greeeaaaaatttt…"_

They continued through the hallways for a few minutes, hearing a truce-like silence in the hallways and hearing the other students hiding or trying to fight someone off. They stood there for a few minutes in silence before looking up and realizing that there was a machine in front of them, hidden as if it was invisible. He had a purple theme with his gauntlets and visors, bearing a maple leaf image. He looked up.

"Matthew?"

"_Charice? Kiku?"_ He stood up. _"W-what's going on?"_

"You're a machine." Kiku stated.

"_W-what…?"_

"Arthur did something again, and we're under the assumption that fifteen nations have been turned into machines." Kiku pointed out the window. "The fight that's happening outside can only be done when you as machines gain a master."

"_A master…"_

"Hey! What if I be your master~?" Charice chirped. "So now what do I do?"

Suddenly, Matthew paused in place, the thing that's supposed to be a shirt levitating over his face and revealing that his soul was now a ball deep inside his chest. Charice did what she always does and stuck her hand inside the hole to see what it felt like. Instantly, her mind relapsed back to the day that Alfred finally cleared her for independence. There was so much pride radiating from her people, it made her smile…

They were thrown back as a strange design appeared on Charice's arm. It was the yellow Filipino sun surrounded by spirals that looked really beautiful. Every time she stared at it, she could feel the happiness of her people radiate from it. She looked up at Matthew and saw that the hole in his chest had closed up, protecting his soul and on top of it was the symbol of the maple with red spirals. They both stared at each other with a blank look on their face.

"…awesome." She did a thumbs up. "No obvious soul sticking out."

"_T-that's good…I felt so naked with it out there…"_

"So that means that all machines that are without a master are vulnerable to be destroyed." Kiku tensed. "The murderer will take advantage of this…!"

"OK! People calm down! Let's just go machine hunting right now…so that way people are not vulnerable anymore!" Charice shrugged. "All good?"

"_Y-yeah…"_

**/=+=/**

As they were running through the hallways hunting down machines, it was revealed that in this space Matthew was known as Pardonner. It was a strange name, but it was French, so no one really cared. Halfway through the walk, they found a shaking and crying Erika, looking so innocent in her bright yellow outfit and her obvious soul sticking out. She didn't want to say anything other than the fact that her title was Sophia, and fortunately Kiku seemed to be her master. He grinned.

"So we're on the same side. That's good." He smiled. "No false fighting now."

"Yeah…but we still have to stop this." Charice stated. "So now what?"

"We have to find the others on our side at least." Kiku folded his arms. "If we find the opposite side, well…we're going to be in danger."

"At least they can't touch our souls or something…" Erika rubbed her chest. "It felt weird having you hold it, Kiku…"

"Well…l-let's not mention it to Vash, shall we?"

"Y-yeah…"

Charice and Matthew stared at each other for a few minutes before continuing to walk through the hallway. As they were about to round a hallway, they heard a strange clicking noise that stopped them. Kiku held his blade tightly and looked at Erika, who nodded and tried to be strong on her own. Matthew's visors clicked on, and he saw through the walls.

"_They know we're here."_ He informed.

"Then we'll do a stalemate." Kiku nodded. "Guard me."

"Okay…"

They stepped forward for a few minutes before they both lunged forward. Erika's gauntlets caught on hard kicks that almost knocked her back, and Kiku's katana bounced off flying spiritual bullets. Charice and Matthew ran out of the side and saw the two figures pausing and staring at them.

"Sister…?"

"Vash!" She clung onto him. "You're a machine like me, aren't you?"

"Yeah…got attacked by Magnus and Gilbert, the crazy freaks. If it hadn't been for Lovino, I would've been dead."

"Che. It just happened." Though it looked like Lovino was clearly worried at the point. "Did you guys see anyone?"

"Just a huge fight between two machines that didn't kill us." Charice shrugged. "But that's about it."

"OK, that's fine. Me and Vash here found a whole group of people that aren't going to kill us in this plain." Lovino stated. "According to them, we're missing one more person."

"One more…?"

"The ultimate Good doji…" Kiku rubbed his head. "This is not good…"

"M-maybe he found a master?"

"That's why we're looking for him." Vash stated. "Come on."

Charice couldn't help but panic as they ran through the hallways. Could it be possible if any of these nations can be destroyed with their souls sticking out of their bodies like this? She was grateful that these three had their souls sealed before something happened, but what could happen with a murderer on the loose?

_Whoever you are…please be patient…_

**/=+=/**

**Thumbs up if you guys guess what manga this is based off of. And DAMMIT, ARTHUR WHAT THE HELL.**


	66. THE SPELLS WON'T STOP! PART III

**For those of you who didn't get it, the manga is ****Karakuri Doji Ultimo****, a collaboration between **_**Shaman King's**_** creator Hiroyuki Takei and the infamous Stan Lee. I'm a fan of Hiroyuki Takei, so of course I use this one, duh. Sorry, ladies.**

**/= [DAY 79] =/**

The six of them were running through the hallways waiting for something to happen. Around them, the sounds of the Evil doji masters _(god, why is Charice using this realm's terminology?)_ began to rise up, making her extremely worried about a war that might end up destroying the place.

_Who could be the doll of the ultimate goodness? It's not like there's any indication…_

Something exploded next to them, making her scream bloody murder and cling onto Matthew. Kiku and Erika ran into the room first, seeing a rather surprising sight. Feliciano was on the ground, in the strange mechanical attire and Antonio smiling over him while holding his soul in his hands yet not bonding to him. A few feet away, Rizal was glaring at them at the door.

"_**Feli!"**_

Suddenly, Rizal lifted his gauntlet and shot them across the hallway. The other four ran into the room and saw Rizal glowing into a spider-like form and showered over them. Lovino turned his head and saw Antonio look at him with a sad smile, still holding Feliciano's soul in his hands.

"Ah, Lovino…I'm glad that we can see each other like this."

"_F-fratello…"_

"Dammit…just what the fuck are you doing?"

"Oh, I see…we're on opposite sides, aren't we? This is just what I have to do…" He looked back at Feliciano. "You could've joined me, Lovino…we could've been great together."

"_**What the fuck is wrong with you?"**_

"I've seen you. Ever since you and Charice started talking to each other, you've been distancing yourself from me…" Antonio lifted up Feliciano, still holding his soul. He could hear him moan from pain. "I've loved you for so long, and yet you can just walk away from me…what does she have that I don't?"

Antonio looked mad, Lovino looked stunned, and Charice was absolutely confused.

"Hey, um…aren't you dating Antonio?"

"N-no…"

"Wait…you're seriously not attracted to me, are you?"

"_Well…wait, __**WHAT THE FUCK!"**_ Lovino shook his arm. " Bullcrap! Bull! Crap! You're just trying to confuse me right now! She is a best friend! _**BEST.**____**FRIEND.**_"

"Yeah, because this is totally a lifetime that gays and lesbians can be open you know!"

"_**CHARICE!"**_

"In another life, we could've been together…" Antonio looked at Feliciano. "Rizal."

He charged toward them, making them jump out of the way. As his spider tentacles started lunging toward all of them, Kiku and Vash tried their best to counter them as the others tried to get to Antonio. Suddenly, a gunshot echoed out in the air, and they turned to see Ludwig aiming a pistol straight at Antonio.

"Put him down."

"Ah…Ludwig…" He smiled. "Nice of you to join us."

"_**Put. Him. Down."**_

_Oh god, Nazi Germany and Sociopathic Antonio…_ Charice wanted to cry behind Matthew, but he was already crying behind her.

All of a sudden, there was a great movement. There was a crushing sound and a great scream of pain before Rizal and Antonio moved out of the room. Vash tried to go after him, but couldn't after he heard Erika scream. Everyone turned their heads to see Feliciano's empty body, his soul cracked in two and lying next to him.

"Feli…" Kiku paused.

"_I-I can still save him…!"_ Matthew looked up. _"I can, really!"_

Charice watched as Matthew took the two halves and placed them together in his gauntlets, willing them together with all his strength. After a few minutes, he looked up and saw that the soul had been fused back together. He smiled at his accomplishment, allowing Charice to kiss him on the forehead. He turned to Ludwig.

"_He can still be saved."_

"Good…" He took it. "I'm not losing him again."

Ludwig lightly pressed the ball back into his chest as he placed a kiss on his lover's lips _(much to Lovino's protest)_. There was a light glow unlike what she saw earlier, and when it faded he saw that Feliciano had started moving and was now wrapping his arms around his frame.

"_Are you all right?"_ He asked.

"_Ve~~~I'm all right, Doitsu…"_ Feliciano answered, holding the arm that had saved him. _"Thank you for saving me…"_

"Che…they always have to shower each other with love, don't they-"

He turned his head and saw that no one else was paying attention, either too busy going through fangirl spazzes or taking pictures or just wishing for them to just make out right there. Vash was the only one with a level head, who gestured for him to go to the hideout for the ones on his side. All Lovino had to do was nod.

**/=+=/**

There were three other sets there when they entered the hideout. One of them was quickly identified as Li Xiao, to which Charice and Kiku quickly went to state their happiness. Ludwig and Feliciano stayed close to each other as they saw Elizabeta chirp and head toward them with a smile.

"Thank goodness you two are safe!" She stated. "I was worried that you'd be caught in the crossfire…or worse, be stuck on the opposing side!"

"Ja. I heard that the Bad Touch Trio was on the other side…" Ludwig shivered.

"Antonio attacked me…said that he was jealous of Lovino's attention or something…" Feliciano stated. "I…I don't know what that means."

"Whatever Arthur is doing is revealing the inner emotions of people…" Roderich stated, propping up his glasses with the huge gauntlets he had. "When it matches, they are forced to be players of this game."

"Speaking of which, what's the piece that you are?" Kiku asked.

"I am the piece known as Slow." He pointed at Elizabeta. "And she is my master."

"…Slow?" Charice looked at them. "Is that…supposed to mean something?"

"In more ways than one."

"_**ELIZA!"**_

"Daaaaang, seriously?"

"_T-this is getting weird."_

"No shit." Lovino turned to Li Xiao. "Anything on what's supposed to happen?"

"Not yet. We're going by what Kiku's saying right now. This is pure manga orders now." He answered. "You doing OK there, Ion?"

"It's hard trying to dispel something like this at such a high scale." The Romanian answered, his gauntlets glowing as of casting a spell. "We may be spell casters, but Arthur's level is higher than mine…this will take a while."

"That's fine." Li Xiao looked back up.

"So let's just figure out who's here right now." Kiku stated. "I've written out a list of who's here right now, and tried to match them up with the actual one from my manga…"

"How is it?" Erika leaned in.

"Well, this is all I got."

**[Ludwig] + Feliciano = Ultimo**

**[Lin Yi Ling] + Tino = Service**

**[Lovino] + Vash = Regla**

**[Charice] + Matthew = Pardonner**

**[Elizabeta] + Roderich = Slow**

**[Li Xiao] + Ion = Goge**

**[Kiku] + Erika = Sophia**

"Seems simple enough."

"Wait, Lin Yi?" Charice looked up. "She's on our side?"

"Yes. Remember seeing her earlier? She definitely had Service with her." He answered. "Because Francis was Desir…lust."

"Ah."

"We should take a break and wait for Lin Yi to come back." Ludwig stated. "Everyone stay here until she comes."

**/=+=/**

Charice and Lovino sat alone in one of the teacher's lounges as the others were outside in the hallway or in the meeting hall with Ludwig and Feliciano. She knew that he was utterly confused on what Antonio had said earlier, knowing that this was something that wasn't in his world. Nothing that Lovino faced before…

"Lovi-chan?" She leaned forward. "You want to talk about it?"

"…what the fuck did he mean by that?" He looked up. "He loves me? In the same way the English bastard and the burger bastard do?"

"Um…I want to say so…because he was jealous of you being around me." Charice answered. "Did you tell him that you were straight?"

"I told him nothing." He looked up. "Besides, aren't all nations bi?"

"I'm straight." Charice pointed at herself. "Rizal's the bi. Though…I'm glad that even in this messed up world, he's able to trust Antonio to make him his master…"

"Is that what you're glad about?"

"If you've seen the both of them in the same room from the past eight hundred years, then you'd understand."

Lovino thought about it for a few minutes before understanding what Charice was talking about. He didn't need eight hundred years…he only needed the past three. After a few minutes, Lovino shook his head and sighed.

"I need to sleep."

"I'll wake you up when they need us."

He nodded before falling asleep almost immediately. Charice looked up at the clock and realized that it was already noon, sighing before leaning back on the couch and staring at the ceiling. This whole week had to be some messed up son-of-a-freaking-crap, isn't it? The murderer would take full advantage of a nation's soul sticking out of their chest.

Unless…Arthur was the murderer?

Charice rubbed the back of her head. Why would she think of something like that? He was a victim, wasn't he? The one who was drowned in the river? Even if he was going to fake his own death, he didn't know that Charice had a way of knowing who the next victim was at the time. He would die a real death anyway. The only way for this to work was if he was only being used by the actual killer…like a tool being discarded for another one?

Maybe that was the murderer? Nothing more than a tool for the real one?

It wouldn't be that weird. She's seen some video games that had that plot: the main villain being nothing more than a pawn for the big baddie that had a bigger plot than whatever the heck the villain was thinking up. It would explain why the murderer suddenly switched his view from Feliciano to Ludwig…but not why he went back to Feliciano. Maybe Ludwig was the murderer before Feliciano offed him for being the new tool…then who offed Feli-chan?

Well, she could save the entire thing and just say that it was just another person in the school that she didn't look into yet that had her powers. Sure, it would up the suspect count to a few hundred, but it would make a lot more sense when it comes to availability. She couldn't help but wonder if everyone else had figured this out already.

"…ngh…"

She looked up and realized that Lovino was shifting in his sleep, looking like he was in pain. Confused, she stood up and walked up to him, watching as he was writhing even more and is even holding his breath and letting go in the strangest of ways. Charice had no idea what his problem was, so she decided to pull his curl for an automatic wake-up call. It works for Feli-chan.

"…A-Antonio…"

Well, that worked wonders.

The curl pulling only made him writhe even more, letting out another held breath that made her even more confused. One more pull and the same reaction later, she finally got it. She scrambled out the door and slammed it after, face as red as it will ever be.

"_C-Charice?"_ Matthew blinked. _"W-what's wrong?"_

"You look pale." Kiku stated.

"…um…"

"What's up?" Elizabeta looked up.

"…I, uh…I think I just walked into someone's wet dream."

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Who's in there?"

"_**ELIZA!"**_

**/=+=/**

**I think I just started a saga without thinking about it. Don't worry, I plan to end this next time. Seriously.**


	67. The Spells Stop! PART IV

**THIS SAGA MUST END. FOR ARTHUR IS GETTING RATHER ANNOYING NOW.**

**/= [DAY 79] =/**

After a half hour of waiting, Lin Yi and Tino had come back a little wounded, but alive. Matthew was able to heal them up pretty well, and they reported that all the doji on their side were assembled and ready for something to happen. The witnesses did nothing to mention what they had witnessed to the others, and for good reason too. Lovino apparently needed a change of clothes because it was "too damn hot" and he sweated all over it. Yeah, sure. Charice didn't want to say it.

"So no one is obviously out there…" Roderich nodded. "That's good."

"Until we start fighting till complete destruction…" Ion answered. "I can't help but worry about us a little."

"More on the doji than the actual masters…" Li Xiao stated. "Cause the doji's bodies have been altered to have more obvious souls…"

"Yes." Ludwig held Feliciano close to him. "I can't help but worry for them."

"Sheesh…this whole thing is getting messed up." Vash sighed. "And the fact that we're the most vulnerable."

"I'm getting worried about something…"

"What's wrong, Kiku?"

"If this entire thing is going as par the manga as I'm sure that it is…" Kiku looked up. "We're missing a lot of crucial information."

"Such as…?" Tino asked.

"Who the moderator is…the one that has been chosen to run the entire thing…and who the doji is…the middle ground."

"I want to say Arthur." Lovino spat. "Because he's such a bitch."

"What are we going to do now…?" Erika asked.

"For now, we wait." Ludwig commanded. "If we're going to charge into this, we're risking someone getting destroyed."

"Yeah…"

**/=+=/**

Charice walked into the room and saw Kiku reading the manga that he was talking about the entire time with a blank look on his face. She could barely feel the light touch of Matthew on her arm as they hovered just a few feet away from him.

"Researching?"

"Just a little." He stated. "In case anything is repeated."

"_L-like what…?"_

"Well…for starters, both Jealousy and his master have a fascination toward the leader of the Good Doji Club."

"Fascination?" Charice rubbed her chin. She knew Rizal looked up to Ludwig, but she didn't know if Antonio had anything…

"And so much so to the point where Jealousy kills his first master to get closer, getting to the second master-"

"_First…master…?"_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"_**OH **__**SHIT!**__**"**_

**/=+=/**

"_C-Charice? Do you really think that's what he's going to do?"_

"In this realm, Rizal's War-Torn phase is more likely to come out, I'm sure of it! And he's definitely going to do it, if at least think about it…" She shivered. "I have to stop this…"

"_But I thought in the manga, Yamato handles it. Wouldn't that mean Ludwig has to solve this?"_

"It'll be too late! Ludwig's smarter than Yamato, so he has more stuff on his plate! We have to save Antonio ourselves!"

"_Yeah…"_

"…are you scared?"

"_A little…but we have to do this. Until Rizal goes too far…"_

The two of them raced down the hallway, making sure that their guard was up and not going to be attacked by anyone. She knew this was utterly stupid, but this was something that she had to do. Besides, she's Charice. She's prone to do stupid things because of otaku intuition. Most of the time, she's right.

"Matthew?"

"_Yes?"_

"If something happens and it gets too much, I want you to make a run for it."

"_Charice? Why?"_

"Because all the nations that have been turned into doji are the most vulnerable people in this plane. If you break now, nothing is going to save you. At least if I break, then I can heal myself back to normal."

"_No. In this realm, I'm supposed to protect you. And I'm going to do that."_

"Matthew…"

"_You helped me before, Charice. Please."_

"…"

She was about to say something when she felt a huge chill run down her back. They both turned their heads to see that Antonio and Rizal were standing just above them, smiles on their faces that were sincere as mass murderers before they pull out the knife. And that was true.

"Charice…nice to see that I don't have to find you." Antonio stated. "Do you want to talk to me?"

"I'm worried about you, Antonio." She answered. "You're going to get killed if what I think is correct?"

"You're worried about me…how nice of you…" He smiled. "No wonder Lovino is so attracted to you."

"Lovino is not attracted to me! You know why? Because _**he is a **__**FLAMING HOMOSEXUAL!**__**"**_

"_C-Charice…!"_

"Ah…Rizal. Do you mind?"

There was nothing, making Charice utterly worried. He looked up and saw Rizal stare him down before his hand turned into a drill and punctured his stomach without a second thought. Charice screamed before he dropped the body to the ground, his eyes glowing red.

"Matthew…!"

"_I'm on it."_

He jumped to his aid just as Charice looked up and saw Rizal strike just a few feet away from her face. She turned and saw that his eyes were completely red and she froze. Rizal had no idea who she was now in this mode. She was about to panic about it when she felt warm hands on her back. She turned her head and saw that it Toris, a smile on his face.

"Don't you remember your own sister, Rizal?" He asked calmly.

He stopped, and Charice panicked. Toris was on the other side, wasn't he? _**CRAP,**__ I can't move…!_

"I will handle her. Why don't you deal with Matthew?"

"No, Matthew! Run!"

He looked up and saw her face pleading before he swallowed his pride and took off with Antonio on his shoulder. Charice watched him run before another doji jumped in front of him. She immediately realized that he was Berwald _(ack! Poor Tino)_, and with one smack the two of them were sent flying.

"Your doji is weak compared to mine." Toris smiled. "You're foolish to try to save him alone."

"She's not alone, bastard."

She looked up and saw as Ion spun toward Berwald and knocked him out of the way, then turned and saw Li Xiao smack off Toris's hand and slam him into the wall _(gently, as Charice seemed to get from him)_. As Rizal went to make a move, she heard a gun click, and Vash was at his head with his gauntlet into a gun.

"You're not moving a muscle."

"Hey, Antonio!"

Lovino ran into the room, heading quick to Antonio's position. He was still unconscious, but Matthew was still trying to close up the wounds. A few feet away, she could hear Kiku and Erika head into the fray, seeing just what had happened. Li Xiao turned to the freed Charice.

"You OK?"

"Startled, but good." She answered. "I was right though…Rizal tried to kill Antonio."

"He was going by manga standards. Once we get out of here, this will all be solved." He answered. "Everyone else is coming here, don't worry."

"All right…"

"Sweet…at least we'll be needed."

Everyone looked up as they saw Magnus and Gilbert standing over them, Gilbert bearing the gauntlets and hence she was panicking like heck. She hid behind Kiku and saw the rest of the Evil doji show up, some of the choices surprising. I mean, she couldn't imagine Seyel being the master of an evil doji _(but then again, it was Heracles)_. Lukas being the master of Emil surprised her even more so. Anri to Francis…yes, even more. Wang Yao and Yong Soo scared her, even with the gauntlets being on Yong Soo. The chill that ran down her back was from Ivan. His doji was Natalya…and she had to be the ultimate evil.

"We. Are. Fucked." Charice blinked. "Please tell me the others are coming."

"I thought I told you this…?"

She looked up and saw the others run into the scenario, doji following soon after. Rizal hesitantly stole back Antonio _(much to Lovino's dismay)_ as the people took their sides. Charice found herself hiding behind Ludwig, who was staring her down in a way that was creeping her out.

"You went out on your own."

"I had to…if I didn't, Rizal would've killed Antonio…"

"…I heard…I'm glad that I sent Li Xiao after you, then."

"Ah…you guys finally found each other."

Charice and Ludwig looked up to see Arthur and Alfred levitate from the sky, Alfred's gauntlet holding the both of them. She turned to Kiku, who mouthed what she already knew: _**"he's the middle ground".**_ She looked back up to Arthur.

"Now you guys can finally answer the long question of what is stronger in this world: good or evil." He grinned. "Let the final war begin…"

_Oh sh-_

All the doji were clashing on each other. Charice couldn't help but scream and duck as everyone started clashing with each other. As she looked up, she saw Matthew shielding her as the Evil doji were starting their assault. He looked down at a terrified Charice as she finally looked up.

"How in the world are we going to get everyone back to normal?"

"_I dunno…some of them seem to know about it, but…"_

"Charice!" Kiku and Erika headed to her location. "We got clearance from Ludwig! We're heading to find Arthur!"

"_**ARE YOU INSANE?**_ What about the rest of them here?"

"They'll be fine! We'll be back, come on!"

**/=+=/**

The four of them dashed as far as they could to try and find the two of them, panicking all the while. She was about to snap her neck when something jumped in front of her, making her scream bloody murder. Kiku stiffened and saw as Yao and Yong Soo came out of the bushes.

_Shit, it's an ambush!_ She panicked.

"You're going after Arthur too, huh aru?"

"…hah?"

"Hey, you're not the only one who knows he's behind this da ze!" Yong Soo winked. "Besides, I'm not hurting my best friend!"

"…thank…_**god…**_" She sighed. "We have to find him before they start destroying each other."

"The doji are too fragile. They'll break like sticks…" Yao looked up. "How are we going to stop him aru?"

"We could always try breaking the thing that's holding the spell together…" Yong Soo rubbed the back of his head. "Right, da ze?"

"Are you trying to question my master's work?"

They all froze and turned to see Alfred standing behind them, his soul standing out completely as his body turned into that of a dragon. Charice screamed bloody murder as everyone else readied themselves. Erika looked up and placed her gauntlets up to see what was going on.

"Kiku…there is a huge concentration of magic in the forehead."

"So we aim there…"

"_**ALL RIGHT, da ze!"**_

Charice nodded as everyone charged toward the location, hearing the dragon roar about a thousand times and crashing itself into the ground, throwing her off. She found herself willing to try running up his back, noticing that Matthew was doing just about that. Being invisible, no one seemed to notice that. Thank god no one did.

"_This is for everyone else…"_ Matthew's gauntlet turned into a sword. _"Turn us normal…!"_

He thrust it deep into the gem, causing the dragon to scream out loud. Charice shielded her eyes and saw as a bright light erupted from the dragon, and then she felt like she was flying…

**/= [DAY 80] =/**

"Gah!"

She sat up in her bed, looking down and realizing that everyone was perfectly all right. She grinned, jumped out of the bed, and headed out to change into her school uniform. As she washed her face in the bathroom, she noticed something strange: glyphs on the sides of her face that were glowing a bright yellow. She turned her head and saw that it was all over her scalp. Charice was about to panic when she saw that it went away at a thought.

"Huh…guess it's that type of thing."

She sighed as she threw on her school uniform and headed to the kitchen, grabbing her premade lunch and went to the door. When she opened it, she looked up and saw that it was Ludwig staring back at her. Of course, she screamed bloody murder and threw herself a few feet away.

"Charice."

"Um…h-hi…" She blinked. "What brings you here?"

"Do you have the mark too?"

"Hah?"

He proceeded to unbutton his shirt _(throwing a mix of fear and interest in her)_, revealing that there was a marking on both his shoulders. She stared at him for a few minutes before quietly pointing at her scalp. He immediately knew what she meant, and rebuttoned his shirt.

"So all the people that were masters yesterday were marked…for what?"

"Do you think…the murderer had anything to do with this?"

"Maybe…for all I know, these are trackers or secret bombs." He sighed. "But I can't get it off."

"Arthur might know."

"Maybe not…this is definitely not something his magic can do." He answered bluntly. "All scars he makes are temporary. This is not."

"So…now what?"

"Well, they fade in due time, so I'm going to talk about Arthur about it. Once he figures it out I'm calling for a conference."

_He had to call it that. Why, you hot, hot, hot man?_

_Wait, what?_

**/=+=/**

**And the Magic arc comes to an end ;D**


	68. Aftermath of the Doji Marks

**And hence this is how the end of the arc comes up to be…with ANOTHER ARC~!**

**/= [DAY 80] =/**

"Hey, Charice! You're all right, da ze!"

"I know I am, cause- **HEY!"**

She smacked Yong Soo in the face as they went to the rehearsal for the musical. They were nearing the actual performances _(shown to the general public and then there's a private screening for their bosses…god help them)_ and every day had to be a tune-up. Fortunately for her, it meant a tune-up for the main cast, so she didn't have to do anything for the time being.

"Yesterday was freaky, da ze!"

"I know, right? Especially with that war and all…"

"By the way, did you wake up with anything weird?"

"Da ze? Oh, yeah! Check this out!"

Yong Soo pulled up his sleeves and revealed to Charice what he meant: markings on both of his arms, looking like the Korean mark on his flag being surrounded by lines and what looked like fish. She didn't have to say anything, instead pointing to her face to reveal the marks on her scalp. He stared at her arm and she realized something: the mark she used to form a bond with Matthew was still on her arm.

"Whoa." She blinked. "Didn't see that one."

"Do you think it was because you were a master, da ze?"

"Maybe. I had a talk with Doitsu-ki and he said he had a mark on his shoulders, but he didn't mention anything about his arm…" Charice rubbed the back of her head. "Then again, I haven't brought up the topic with everyone else yet."

"That's the weird part, da ze! I had a talk with Aniki and he has marks on his arm and his back! They look just like Chinese marks and stuff, da ze!" Yong Soo's arms started waving up and down. "It's so weird, da ze!"

"I guess it's because he was a master, then…" Charice looked through the window. "Well, it looks like I got a good pattern of these markings…"

"You can say that again…"

She turned her head and saw Roderich walking toward the auditorium, already in his prisoner robes and holding his other attire. He placed it down on the table and faced them, revealing two marks that looked like music notes and bars mixed in with the Austrian coat of arms on both his arms. Yong Soo whined.

"Awww…that looks cooler than _**mine**_, da ze!"

"If it hadn't been for the fact that I can dismiss them when I need them too, I would be fairly annoyed." He answered, lowering his arms. "As for you, Charice, do you think the difference in marking locations deal with the fact that you were a master and not a doji?"

"Maybe. That's what I'm getting from the information I'm hearing about." She rubbed her chin. "Doitsu-ki was worried about it, and he had markings on his shoulder…though I don't think he has one on his arm…"

"This is getting strange…both Elizabeta and Anri told me that they had markings as well." Roderich rubbed his chin as well. "Isn't it true that Arthur completely reversed his magic?"

"Well, Doitsu-ki is about to interrogate him about it later, so…" Charice shrugged. "Maybe he already did."

"I see…well, I can't help but feel a little worried about these things." Roderich looked at them. "It's as if looking at them stirs something in me…"

_Stirs something…?_ She blinked. _What does that…?_

"Let's not think about it, da ze. Rehearsal is starting." Yong Soo pointed out. "We'll talk about it later."

"Yes, that's a good idea…" He looked up. "Charice?"

"Yeah."

**/=+=/**

After the dress rehearsal, Charice was led by Ludwig to a small room where all the fellow Persona users _(she had to find a good name for them)_ were sitting in. Seeing as how the majority of them were in their costumes, Charice couldn't really take this seriously. Sitting down next to Arthur in a dress didn't work either.

"So do all of you have marks?" Ludwig asked.

"I do." Gilbert lifted up his arms, showing markings that looked like black birds connected by chains and lines. "I joked that I got a tattoo and the girls _**love**_ it."

"The…few girls that we have." Charice sighed, showing her markings.

"_Mine aren't as big as yours…"_ Matthew lifted his arms, revealing the same markings that were on his chest when he was a doji: maple leaves connected by red vines. _"They disappear when I will it to…"_

"So we all obtained two markings…" Kiku rubbed his chin. "There seems to be a pattern."

"I have a theory on that, but I need to see two people." Li Xiao looked up. "Arthur, Alfred. Let me look at yours."

The both of them sighed. Arthur stood up and turned around, revealing a crest that looked like the royal family on the back of his neck, and on his right arm were dancing lines in the colors of his flag. Alfred lifted his arms and revealed white stars and lines on both his arms: red on one side and blue on the other. Li Xiao nodded.

"I see…my theory is correct." Li Xiao stated. "It seems as if each person that was associated with yesterday has been marked twice. For a doji, it is marked on both arms to symbolize their gauntlets. For their human counterparts, it's marked on the arm for which they bonded with the soul, and as for the second place…I'm not really sure why it's somewhere else."

"The theory seems to hold up." Francis lifted his arms, revealing what looked like swords pointing to his wrists as they were connected by colorful banners. "I've met with Anri earlier, and she had a marking on her right arm and cheek."

"I met up with Yong Soo and Roderich…the theory matches up with them too!" Charice leaned forward. "So we're all marked!"

"Ve~~~what do the marks mean…?"

"Ahahahaha! You guys are worrying too much!"

"Says _**you**_, tomato bastard! Why the hell aren't you worried about these? Knowing the murderer, he probably marked these up as bombs or something!"

"You guys are thinking too hard! Don't you think that it's something a little simpler than that?"

"Like…what?"

Antonio merely stood up and looked at the windows for a few seconds before rolling up his sleeve to reveal the green vines tattoo on his hand. Before their eyes he opened up his palm and revealed a Persona card, something that made them all jump. He crushed it, revealing Okuninushi behind him.

"I found out this morning, but he didn't do anything so I wasn't too concerned about it." He answered with that smile. "So what do you think?"

"_I-It works…"_ Matthew lifted up his Persona card.

"I got mine." Lovino lifted his.

"Claim." Charice got her whole deck out.

"I have mine." Li Xiao turned his head. "Anyone want to say anything?"

"Ve~~~I don't have mine…"

"I think it's because you haven't activated yours yet in the other world." Gilbert grinned. "Don't worry about it."

"Ve~~~"

"I think you may want to rethink that statement."

They looked up to see that Francis had a Persona card in his hand as well, this time tinted a bright pink. He crushed it, and instantly the figure of a man with wings appeared behind him. Everyone gasped in shock as the Persona vanished from behind him. Francis could only smile.

"These marks are granting the bearers Persona."

"You mean granting them to those who haven't been on the other side." Arthur pointed out. "Seeing as how Feliciano doesn't have one."

"Does that mean that about twenty something people can now use Personas in the real world?" Kiku rubbed his chin. _"This isn't good."_

"This is **NEVER** good." Lovino spat. "Especially since half of them are idiots."

"Ah…don't tell me that you're talking about me, Lovi-chan."

"_**It's LOVINO!"**_

"Lovi-chaaaaan…"

"_**FUCK OFF, CHARICE!"**_

"Nah ;D"

**/=+=/**

"'Ey, Lovi-chan!"

"I told you Charice…it's _**Lovino."**_

"Lovino, whatever. I wanted to ask you something." She went up next to him. "Did you talk to Antonio?"

"About what?"

"That…mushy stuff that he was talking to you about yesterday…about being in love with you and how he was jealous of me and crap-"

"He did _**not**_ say that he was in love with me!"

"He beat around the bush, but the same rules apply."

"…well, what am I supposed to do? Antonio's the only one who doesn't remember what happened yesterday! Like he slept throughout the _**entire**_ thing!"

"He doesn't…?"

"Tomato bastard just woke up with those marks and went bragging to me about it." Lovino folded his arms. "He doesn't remember, so I'm not remarking."

"He's gonna remember one of these days."

"_**Not**_ when I'm around."

"And when he does around you?"

"…"

"You could just…tell him the truth."

"What truth?"

"That you love him back and you secretly want him to-"

"_**SHUT THE HELL UP, CHARICE!"**_

"Awwwww…I thought you were one to hear recommendations…"

"Did _not_ want to hear that…"

"You too shy to tell him?"

"**NO!"** He was blushing when he said that.

…

…

…

…

"I can tie him up to something and you can tell him there."

"_**What the fuck does THAT have to do with anything?"**_

**/=+=/**

**Raphael**** is one of the four major archangels in the Catholic religion, the highest ranked one. He recites the history of the fallen angels and is the guardian of the Tree of Life…not the Tree of Knowledge. No, not that one. [Francis Bonnefois - LOVERS]**

**For those of you who don't know Les Miserables…now's the time to figure it out. Just listen to the music and you'll get it.**


	69. Must  Avoid  Innuendo Jokes

**Rehearsals are fun if you know what you're doing. Ah, the memories of my high school year…**

**/= [DAY 81] =/**

"Hey, Charice! I wanna talk to you!"

She looked up and saw Magnus heading over to her with a shining Celtic-ish mark on his forehead _(whatever that was)_. He didn't seem to mind that it was open for viewing, so much that he was pointing at it when they were walking next to each other before he said a word.

"What do you think? Pretty awesome, huh?"

"Sure, I guess." She looked at it. "Are those lions?"

"That's what the mark has!" He grinned. "It looks cooler than any tattoo that any of my people can have!"

"Don't brag about this." Charice sighed. "We have a rehearsal to run, you know."

Magnus could only laugh as they both entered the auditorium, where all the ensemble cast were talking with their stage crew while getting into their costume. He grinned and headed further in as Charice decided to dress quietly in the corner. She looked up and saw Erika fidgeting with a button on her dress.

"You need help there?"

"Eh? Oh, thank you."

She was more than willing to do so, seeing that her arms had the marks of a doji as well: decorated with crowns and two birds that were both blue and red. Charice blinked for a few minutes before continuing to button her up, hearing her chirp in happiness and nod at the completion.

"Thanks."

"No problem." She stated. "How're the others?"

"I think they're doing all right…Vash isn't too happy to be in a woman's dress, though."

"Well, we need women for the show and…not too many women came into the auditions. What're we supposed to do?"

"I guess you're right…" Erika fidgeted. "Hm…"

"Still worried about what happened earlier?"

"I can't help but be…but it's all over, right?"

"I guess so…" She decided not to remark on the marks on her arms. "So what're we doing now?"

"I'm not sure…Francis isn't around. He should be here…"

"Ah…and am I to say that we are having a break now?"

"_**GAAAAAAAH!"**_ Charice darted her head around. "What the hell? _**DON'T DO THAT!**__**"**_

"Don't be so flustered, Charice. You out of all people should know where I am…"

"…are you hitting on me?"

"Don't you know me at all?"

"Don't you know _**me**_ at all?"

"Oh, I know you, Charice. I know all about you."

"_**YOU FREAK!"**_

It was then that Charice started to attack him. Surprisingly, Francis knew everything. He dodged the first leg attack, ducked under the punch, spun around the second one, lather, rinse, repeat. Once Charice was tired, Francis wasn't hit once. He only had that strange smile on his face.

"Don't say I already said it."

"…wow." She lowered her leg.

"Now, if you're done trying to break all my bones, we have a rehearsal to start." Francis walked forward. "Then again, we're starting at the Prologue, so…I guess you can take a break until then."

"Food's outside." Erika stated.

"Suh-**WEET."**

Charice chirped and started skipping up onto the stage, more than ready to start wolfing down those doughnuts that she's been hearing about. Halfway up the stairs, she saw Alfred and Antonio in a strange conversation.

"Ahahaha! Do you really think that our Glee club is like your Glee club?"

"Hell yeah it is! I mean, think about it: I'd by Will, Matthew would be Artie, Charice would be Mercedes, and Feli'll be Kurt!"

"Ve~?"

"Oh yeah, that is so true!" Antonio clapped his hands together. "Because they're both the cute little falsetto of the entire club!"

"What're you talking about?"

"Comparing our Glee club to my Glee club." Alfred winked. "Both of them really are cute, huh?"

"Ve~?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Ludwig sighed, coming out of the backstage in his Holy Rome outfit _(that Charice can never take seriously anymore)_.

"Glee clubs." Alfred bluntly answered. "Hey, do you think Feli here can be a Kurt?"

"Ve~~~I can be a Kurt!" Feliciano swung back and forth in his dress before he stopped. "…who's Kurt?"

"One of the show's gay characters." Antonio laughed. "The cutest one, I think!"

"Ve~? Who's the other one?"

"Darren. I think." Ludwig scratched his cheek. "Is that his name?"

"Yeah, that's his name." Alfred grinned. "The boyfriend."

"Ve~? If I'm Kurt, then who's Darren…?"

"Italia…that's simple-"

_*chu*_

…

…

…

…

…

"**KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**

**/= [DAY 82] =/**

When Charice went into rehearsal, she noticed that Natalya was standing outside the boy's bathroom, already dressed for the show. Charice blinked.

"Shouldn't you be inside the auditorium?"

"Brother is inside the bathroom. I'm waiting for him." She answered.

"Oh." _Still stalking him as always._

"Charice."

"**HAH?"** Why'd she scream?

"I've been considering what you told me before at the Glee club meeting."

_I told her something? _"…and?"

"I think it's total crap."

_I figured as much._

"But I have tried it." Natalya looked at the door. "Instead of twenty-four hours, I invested only twenty hours."

"…weekly?"

"Daily."

_Oh._ "…and…?"

"He seems grateful for that, even if it is hidden." She answered. "I must thank you."

"Um…sure. Whatever you say."

"That way, I'm getting closer for having my brother marry me."

_Ohhhhh…crap, I started a war, didn't I?_ "Well…does he _**know**_ that you've taken less time on him?"

"Yes. That's why he said he was grateful."

"Oh." _I'm getting murdered, aren't I?_ "…w-what do you do during those four hours…?"

"Sleep."

"Oh…" Charice blinked. "Um…glad I can help?"

Natalya said nothing, since Ivan had come out of the bathroom. Charice watched them off and headed back into the auditorium where she immediately bumped into Rizal holding a binder in his hands. He looked down to her level, seeing the dress.

"I see you're prepared." He answered calmly.

"I'm always prepared~!" She chirped.

"…for the wrong reasons."

"_**Oh hush."**_ Charice leaned in. "Soooo…how are you with the lights?"

"Well…I've been trying to blind people, but it was all in vain."

"Well, Francis probably knew that and neglected any mirrors."

"Most likely." Rizal sighed. "So much for that. How 'bout you?"

"I've been having fun. A lot of these guys are insane!"

"I can see that. It must be hard being one of the few girls in this school."

"Not really. In fact, most of the time I harass _**them.**__**"**_

"…why am I not surprised."

"Because you're not! Especially Lovi-chan, I think he likes me!"

"Despite the fact that he keeps telling you not to call him that?"

"He secretly likes it, I'm sure of that!"

"_**NO I DON'T, YOU BASTARD!"**_

"**I love you, Lovi-chan!"**

"_**IT'S **__**LOVINO!**__**"**_

"**I love you too, Lovi-chan~!"**

"_**SHUT UP**__**, SPAIN!"**_

"…and that's the normal conversation around here." Rizal sighed. "So anyway…none of them actually harass you, right?"

"No, not really. And if someone does, some other people just mash up on them and break their ribs." Charice grinned. "I've seen them do that~!"

"Interesting…like who?"

"Doitsu-ki, duh~!" She laughed. "He's really intimidating but Feli-chan loves that guy!"

"I can see that…" Rizal sighed, looking back to them on the stage. "Inseparable…"

"Yep. Aren't they cute~?"

"Yeah…cute."

Charice didn't know why, but Rizal was staring at the stage with a strange look on his face. She would remark on it when Francis called everyone down to get into places. She stared at her brother for a few minutes before turning and heading into position. Hopefully, he'd be there when she got back to talk about it.

**/=+=/**

"You did well."

"Thanks, Li-chan!" She skipped toward him. "Though hypothetically, my part in this show is done!"

"A part in a show is never done." He said with a serious look on his face. "But I'm glad to see that you're having fun."

"Yeah, I know! Who knew it was fun singing about someone being a whore?" Charice slapped his back. "You should've auditioned!"

"I'm not…so much of a show person, Charice. I already was at my limits with the Glee performance." He chuckled. "It was stressful, but…"

"It was fun, right?"

"…it was fun." Li Xiao lifted up the prop box. "I have to admit that too."

"So are you doing the spring musical?"

"…depends on what it is." He answered. "I'll…consider it."

"Yaaaaay~! That means we'll have a lot of fun, Li-chan!"

"…yeah, aru…"

"Ahahaha…you're embarassed~!"

"N-no I'm not aru!" He gasped. "…hush."

"Awwwww…so cute…"

Li Xiao could only sigh and feel her hug his arm. This had to be…rather comforting, to say the least…

**/=+=/**

**And the two Asian countries still battle out for the role of Charice's boyfriend! I still remember the days everyone was voting for Matthew…what happened XD**


	70. Looking Backwards

**And we have two more days till the end of the musical arc~! Whoot!**

**/= [DAY 83] =/**

This time, she saw Ludwig standing in front of the auditorium alone, all dressed in his Holy Rome gown. She stared at him for a few minutes in a safe distance before Ludwig realized that she was there. He made no move to walk toward her, and she made no move to walk toward him as well. They stood there in a strange limbo, one unwilling to move.

"…hi." She waved.

"Hey." He leaned on the table. "Have you seen Italia?"

"No, I haven't." She answered. "Why? I thought you would've seen him."

"I lost track of him halfway through our walk here…must've gotten distracted or something." He sighed. "You know him…"

"And you haven't considered him being distracted by Francis _**why?"**_

"Because I chased him all the way here."

_Oh._ "Do you think that Feli-chan knows how to get back here?"

"I don't think so…but he always knows where to find me…"

"Ita-sense, maybe?"

"Maybe…"

Charice stared at Ludwig as he turned his head to look for his man. She never really saw him as the "boyfriend" type _(even though she obviously declared that he was infatuated with Feli-chan)_…you know, the one carrying the flowers around and being all lovey-dovey…but then again, he was probably like that during his childhood. Who knows? He does. She wants to know.

"How long did you know Feli-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Um…I thought you knew him since World War I."

"No…long before that." He blushed a bit. "The…9th Century."

"…damn." _I was still under Spanish rule._ "Friends?"

"…no."

"You _**liked**_ him for _**THAT LONG?**__**"**_

"D-don't judge me…"

"Awwwwww, that's the cutest thing eveeerr~!" She started swinging back and forth. "I never knew that you'd be so love-struck this entire time!"

"…_yeah…that long…even so much that he didn't know me before…"_

"…you were a stalker?"

"I-I wasn't something like that!"

"_**Suuuuuuuure**__ you weren't…"_

"Shut up…" His blush was even darker. "I knew it was bad, but…I couldn't help myself…he was so…"

"Cute?"

"I guess that was it…" He sighed. "I really…don't remember it…"

"You don't remember?"

"There are still a few gaps in my memory, Charice. I can't remember everything like that."

"That's true…" She blinked. "Do you think you were attracted because you thought he was a girl?"

"…I was young…maybe that's what happened." Ludwig sighed. "But it's not like that anymore…I don't love him because of the past…I love him because of what he is now."

"Which is no different from him in the past."

"…huh."

"Yeah, basically." Charice chuckled. "Right?"

"Not really…he's more…mature than back then."

It was then that she saw a quiet smile on his face, something that could win her over _(seriously, what the hell is up with cute guys being gay? __**IT WASN'T FAIR!)**_, and sighed. Was it so hard to find someone to be in love with? Being a nation is hard. Being a _**female**_ nation is harder. Heck, all of them were as gay as a Christmas day…

The smile on his face quickly turned into a smirk, catching her attention. Ludwig lifted his finger to his lips, telling her what she knew he was trying to say, and then turned and hid behind one of the soda machines. Before she knew it, Feliciano skipped through the hallway wearing his maid gown.

"Ve~?" He turned to Charice. "Isn't Doitsu here?"

"Eh? Well…" She saw him keep that finger to his lips as he went to the other side of the machien. Since when did he decide to be a prankster? Has he been hanging out with Kiku for too long? Or was this his inner Prussia? Oh dear god, that better not be it. "I didn't see him."

"Ve~~~don't tell me that he never arrived…" Feliciano started swinging back and forth. "M-maybe something happened to Doitsu! _**Veeeee~~~~!**_ What if Doitsu dissolved when Feli-chan came here? Noooo! Feli-chan doesn't want Doitsu to leave Feli-chan again! Charice…what should Feli-chan do?"

…_hah? Since when does he speak in third-person?_ "Why in the world would he dissolve almost instantly…?"

"Veee…Feli-chan's scared…"

_Must…not…strangle…_

"…Italia?"

The both of them froze. Charice never heard this voice before. It was young…boyish in a way…wait, she did hear this before…in someone's world…? Oh, wait a minute…

"…Helirich?"

_**HOLY CRAP!**_ Charice had to clamp her mouth shut. Don't tell me that's what Doitsu was aiming for here! _Man, this really is his inner Prussian…might as well stick around._

"Heilrich…? Am I dreaming this?"

"Maybe you are, maybe you're not. That's all I can say." The voice responded. It sounded like he was smiling. "I see that you are happy now."

"Yes…w-with the future you…" Feliciano rubbed his hands together. "But…in a way, it's not the same…"

She paused.

"I miss when you were shy around me…when you would do anything to make me happy…but it's OK now. I'm all grown up and I can move on…and I have you by my side, so please don't worry."

"…thank you, Italia…thank you so much."

The voice died down, making Feliciano stop swaying and smile back at Charice as if he knew she could hear him the entire time. After a few seconds, Ludwig came out of his hiding place, the finger still on his lips, and then lowered it as the smile went down with it.

"_**ITALIA!**__**"**_

"_**GAAAAAH!"**_ The both of them stopped screaming. "Ve~~~~! D-Doitsu!"

He threw himself into his arms, making Ludwig stop what he was going to say _(if there was anything)_ before he walked into the auditorium with a smile on his face. The minute they crossed the door, Ludwig winked at Charice. She stared at him for a few minutes.

…_what the hell just happened?_

**/= [DAY 84] =/**

She had no idea what happened the entire day. All she knew was that she was onstage singing about being a whore to Francis _(and I think he was enjoying it…)_. Whenever Ludwig came on, she had to laugh at just how cute he looked. Whenever Feliciano came on, someone had to hold her back so she didn't swarm the stage. Past all the important stuff, she had to admit that the story was rather interesting.

Taking the political context out _(French Revolution = __**"NO ONE CARES"**__, says Lovi-chan)_, it was about redemption, unrequited love and sacrifice. Roderich really knew how to act when it came to holding the burden of the world on his shoulders. Elizabeta was perfect for a dying mother. Alfred was…well, all right. He was supposed to be a revolutionary, so no one cared. And Ludwig as the police man? All the girls nodded and agreed on the same thing: _**HOOOOT.**_

With that out of the way, she focused on everything else. Toward the end, at "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables", she couldn't help but have a flashback to Feliciano's world. That had to be the incident where she truly became a nation. Because a nation is not a nation until they have seen death with their own eyes. Forget the fact that it was reversible when it came for them, it was the fact that they were pale and unmoving and gone from this world that scared her…

She felt someone squeezing her hand and she turned to see that Li Xiao was there, not looking at her and yet his hand was holding hers tightly. She couldn't help but smile at his appearance, and then leaned silently on his shoulder. She felt him flinch but made no move to shoo her off. Charice smiled as she watched the scene, the pain lifted just a little bit.

_I'll…probably never get over the pain of death…_ She sighed. _But at least…I don't have to go through this alone…_

**/=+=/**

**And the arc will be closed the next chapter~!**


	71. What She Really Believes

**Musical arc is coming to a close~!**

**/= [DAY 85] =/**

Charice smiled. Everyone was in costumes and the audience was coming tomorrow. There was already some tension running around, but no one made any remark on them. She wondered why that was to be, because a lot of them were talking about how happy they were that the rehearsals were finally going to be over. Apparently no one wanted to hear _Les Miserables_ anymore…despite how cool the story was. Maybe it was because it was French?

As she walked out of the theatre, she noticed that the man named Berwald was sitting down in a prop chair, reading the _Les Miserables_ book and wearing something that looked like a revolutionary. She had to admit, it looked interesting on the guy. Had she ever heard him talk before? Hm.

"Oh, Berwald!" Tino chirped. "There you are!"

"T'n'. N'ce t' s'e th't y'u'r' h'r' t''."

…_what?_

"Eh? Charice, hi." Tino waved at her. "Are we starting yet?"

"Just about to." She leaned at the book. "There's a book version of the musical?"

"T'e m's'c'a' 's b's'd o'f 't."

"…hah?"

"The musical that we're doing is based off this book." Tino explained. "It's a lot thicker than what the show is, and they changed a lot of things."

"Did you read the book too?"

"I've seen a few chapters. A lot of them are nothing more than political context."

"Oh…great."

"'t's m're 'nt'r'st'ng th'n y'u m'g't th'nk."

"…um…interesting." She nodded. "I…might have to read it."

"You should." Tino smiled. "You get more context of certain scenes then in the musical: like when Cosette and Marius fall in love."

"_**Really?"**_

"It actually takes a few months for it to happen. Not two seconds."

"…so Cosette really wasn't a Mary Sue…" She blinked. "Huh."

"S''? R''lly 'nt'r'st'ng."

"…interesting." That was all Charice could get.

**/=+=/**

She rounded a corner and saw that Ludwig and Feliciano were talking to Alfred in the lobby. Blinking, she hid behind a soda machine just as Li Xiao and Kiku came out of the auditorium with their plans for the show.

"What's going on?" Kiku asked.

"_That."_ She pointed at them.

Kiku and Li Xiao looked up before hiding behind the soda machine as well. They were all in costume and apparently Ludwig was talking to Alfred on how to make his relationship with Feliciano more realistic. Despite the fact that the Italian loves hugs, he was really shy when Alfred hugged him.

"Like this?"

"Ve~~~you got it." He shivered. "Still not as good as Doitsu, though…"

"Hey, I'm not trying to be a replacement here." Alfred let him go. "I'm just trying to be convincing here."

"Without actually hurting him." Ludwig answered, folding his arms.

"Dude, I knew you were protective of him! I didn't think it would go this far!"

"W-well, who else can protect him?" The German turned his head away. "He's on his own. So I have to be there for him."

"Ve~~~thank you, Doitsu." Feliciano went to him. "I can't ask for anyone else."

"Awww…" Alfred chuckled. "But still, I think me and Arthur are cuter."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Ludwig grinned.

"Ve? _**Ve~!"**_ Feliciano was cuddled closer. "Me and Ludwig are cuter together."

"No way. Me and Arthur are."

"What the bloody hell are you three talking about?"

"Hey! Just in time!" Alfred grinned, looping an arm around his shoulder. "Aren't we cuter than those two?"

"H-huh? What? Well…" He snapped himself back into tsun. "Of course we're cuter than they are."

"What makes you say that?" Ludwig grinned. "This is a battle we'll win, you know."

"No no no…Americans always win a battle." Alfred winked.

"No, we're winning this time." Ludwig pointed out. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

"Ve~~~maybe we should get Charice here." Feliciano looked up. "She's the only one who could judge something like this."

Unfortunately, Li Xiao and Kiku heard this.

"_No…no, we can't do this. Charice, no-"_

"_**I'LL DO IT, I'LL DO IT, I'LL DO IT!"**_

"_Oh no…"_

**/= [DAY 85] =/**

The day of the opening curtain was right there, a few minutes away. The place was utterly crowded, being shown to both the public figures and the common man alike. The fact that the both of them were there added more pressure to the performers. If they were to go out there and they fail horribly…

"Are you nervous, da ze?" Yong Soo walked next to her, wearing his prison garb.

"A little." She fidgeted with the corset on her stomach. "But it's just stage fright."

"Hey, you don't have to go onstage till the next scene."

"The next scene better not come…"

"Don't worry, da ze! You'll be fine! If you forget your lines onstage, all you have to do is mouth them with the others! For someone like me I have to remember them, da ze!"

"Yeah…awesome…whatever that was supposed to be."

"We're going to kick all their asses tonight, da ze! And let's not forget that!"

"Yeah…I'm not going to forget that!"

**/=+=/**

It was already the end of Act I, and the whole audience was clapping in happiness. Charice quickly switched her skirts to that of a black one before she headed outside for a good breath of fresh air. Once she was out, she realized that Natalya was out there, wearing her dress for the next scene _(that doesn't show up in about a few minutes)_. She blinked.

"Uh…hi."

"…" Natalya just nodded. "You're not on stage."

"It's a break." Charice answered. "You're not onstage."

"It's my break from Ivan. I've been lowering it to eighteen hours."

"Wow…that is dedication."

"This is true love." She answered. "I am willing to wait for him to love me."

"…absolute love…" Charice sighed. "I…don't believe in stuff like that."

"You don't?" Natalya stared at her. "From what I have heard from my brother, you believe in love."

"I do…just not _**absolute**_ love." She looked up to the sky. "For nothing in this world is absolute."

"What are you saying?"

"Time is going to wash away everything…pain, despair, regret, happiness, joy…and even with someone as immortal as we are, circumstances are going to force us apart." Charice looked down. "Nothing is going to stay together. Nothing is going to stay like this. I just accept that reality as it comes."

"And what of Feliciano and Ludwig? I know how much you love them together."

"I know…that's why I'm scared for them. Something's going to happen and the both of them are going to be forced apart…kind of like Roderich and Elizabeta. They were so in love…"

"How can you not believe in absolute?" Natalya was confused. "There is always an absolute."

"Maybe…but I don't believe it. There is no such thing as an absolute."

"There is _**always**_ an absolute."

Charice looked up.

"After the Soviet Union had dissolved, big brother's family had been lost to him, scattered around the world. He had gathered us after he had been freed from the Tartars with the hope of having someone that can love him. He was alone in the world, suffering, for too long. Losing that family again hurt him." Natalya stomped forward. "That is why I want to be there for him. That is why I ask him to marry me. Not just because I love him. I want to be there for him no matter what. I want to be that absolute. The only absolute in this world."

Charice was taken aback. She never thought that Natalya thought of it all so deeply. It was then that she heard a commotion from the inside.

"We have to go back…for the show." Charice grinned. "You up for it?"

"Anything to make brother happy." She smiled. "He's watching."

It was then that she realized something: Natalya was _**smiling**_. She headed back inside with the Belarusian, not knowing that Kiku and Li Xiao had been listening the entire time.

**/=+=/**

**And the arc…is over. *sigh***


	72. Beginning of December

**I don't know…**

**/= [DAY 86] =/**

"How in the world as we back here?"

"Ve~~~we always have a Glee meeting! And I'm Kurt!"

"_**What the hell does that mean?"**_

"That means we have a gay falsetto in our group." Etana stated as she pulled out her books.

"HEY! I resent you using that word!" Lovino spat.

"Why?" Yong Soo looked up. "Every guy here's gay…with the exception of me, da ze!"

"_**YOU DON'T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!"**_

"Bloody hell, when was the last time I heard the world gay and it meant happiness?"

"_Um…never?"_

"All right, guys! Settle down!" Alfred grinned. "I know you guys are relieved that the whole musical is over and stuff…but we still got work to do!"

"Like what?" Francis grinned.

"The Christmas concert!" Alfred winked. "Tino requested it so that he can kick off the Christmas holidays that way!"

"_Oh great…now we get to sing the usual Christmas songs…fucking fantastic."_ Lovino spat.

"Well, that…and then me and Charice decided that we were going to do some pop songs for Christmas." Alfred laughed. "And then Roderich gets the Music Club to try playing symphonies~!"

"That's it?" Yao blinked in confusion.

"Yep." Charice grinned. "Either that or I get to use one of my _**fabulous**_ plans~!"

"_**No!"**_

"Ve~~~but her plans are usually so fun-"

"_**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**__**"**_

**/= [DAY 87] =/**

Charice walked through the interior garden with a flick in her step, thinking deep into what she was going to do for the Christmas concert, when she noticed someone staring around like he was waiting for someone. Without even thinking she plopped down next to him, making him look up.

"Oh, Charice…I thought you were Lovino."

"Why? You and Lovi-chan have a date?"

"Maaaaybe~ we're going to be checking our gardens again!"

"…it's wintertime."

"You never know!"

"…this isn't Spain. I'm pretty sure crops don't grow in these temperatures."

"I know that! It's just that it hasn't snowed yet and I can't help but wonder…"

"…no. That doesn't happen."

Antonio just started laughing. The laugh was, as always, different from what she was used too. Heck, she couldn't help but think about how that makes him different. Wasn't she thinking about this for…I dunno, a few years already? Shouldn't she already have an answer by now?

"You know…you sometimes sound like Lovino."

"How?" She blinked.

"You like yelling a lot and swearing even more."

"Oh, that's true." She laughed. "How is he, by the way?"

"He's doing well…"

"Sad about something?"

"No. I was just thinking about how tolerating he is about his brother dating Ludwig." Antonio laughed. "I thought he hated him."

"He still does." Charice tilted her head. "But he watches over his brother like that. I think it's cute."

"Well, his brother really is cute~!" Antonio clapped his hands together. "He has that tic, shivers a lot, cooks and draws beautifully, and is _**adorable!**__**"**_

"I won't deny you on that! Not to mention that he's so cute when you actually get the shy part of him!" Charice laughed. "Have you _seen_ him when he hides behind Ludwig?"

"God, I just want to hug him."

"So do I…" Charice sighed. "Lovi-chan's the polar opposite of him."

"Yeah…he yells a lot, curses more, and never likes it when I give him hugs…" Antonio tilted his head. "Not to mention that he can't draw and cook that well."

"He can't cook?"

"Not well…nothing like Feliciano."

No one knew that Lovino was listening from behind the wall, clenching his fist and trying hard not to cry openly and look like a sissy. But he really should have seen this coming. So many people always prefer his younger brother than him…why? Was it because he was so normal compared to him…?

"And I like that."

Lovino looked up.

"Because Lovino wasn't supposed to be like his brother. No one is supposed to be like their siblings." Antonio sighed. "There are a lot of things he can do that Feliciano can't. He can aim a gun, defend himself for a while…he can protect efficiently…it makes me worry for him more."

"Yeah…actually, don't tell anyone, kay?"

"Tell anyone what?"

"Well…I personally like Lovi-chan over Feli-chan."

"Seriously?" Antonio's eyes were huge. "But you hug Feliciano all the time!"

"Because he's easier to hug and I get lazy sometimes! It's not like I hate him or something, it's just that Lovi-chan is more adorable in a way…oh, _tsundere,_ that's it!" She laughed. "He's a tsundere!"

"I've heard of that term. Kiku uses that a lot. He's one of them?"

"Yep~!" She chirped. "He's a lot more adorable than Feli-chan, but the only problem is that he doesn't like being hugged…so I only try to hug him when I want some exercise."

"Ohhhh."

"Like now- _**HI, LOVI-CHAAAAN!"**_

"_**GAAAAAAAH!"**_

**/= [DAY 88] =/**

When Charice passed through the hallway, she turned her head and saw that Tino was decorating the walls with Christmas lights. She couldn't help but laugh as she watched as Erika and Vash headed over to help him, which ended up with Tino falling and Berwald swooping out of nowhere to save him. She laughed and headed on.

The next hallway had Wang Yao talking to Lin Yi and Yong Soo about their upcoming celebration _(apparently fireworks are involved)_. Li Xiao came out of nowhere and then popped confetti in their faces, making them scream bloody murder and for Yong Soo to jump / grope Wang Yao.

In the newspaper room, she noticed Ludwig, Feliciano and Kiku talking to each other about the Christmas article while eating their lunch. Halfway through, Feliciano leaned onto Ludwig's arm and cooed softly, causing the poor German to blush and the Japanese man to laugh. She stared at that for a few minutes before moving on.

Around halfway through her walk, she couldn't help but notice that Natalya was stalking Ivan again _(judging by his shaking and being comforted by his sister Irunya)_. It was around that time that she noticed that Toris had passed by and Ivan immediately ignored everything and headed off to stalk him. She had to stop after that.

In the garden, she noticed that Antonio and Lovino were there watching the snow over their plants. Halfway through her watch she noticed that a girl was heading over there to talk to them. She recalled that her name was Anri…Belgium, she believed. From what she was seeing, she was basically the missing piece of the tomato puzzle that was so lost it was optional. They looked like they were having fun. She turned and headed on.

After watching Gilbert harass Roderich for a few minutes she noticed that Alfred and Arthur were having a quiet moment together, talking in a voice she couldn't hear and cuddling together while waiting for the snow to fall. She couldn't help but laugh before walking forward, seeing that Matthew was standing in front of the wall while eating ice cream and sighing. She quietly leaned in to read it before sighing and heading on.

_**Carlos was here…and damn glad he was.**_

She turned to the lobby and then saw the one person that she wanted to talk to today. She couldn't help but wave and smile, catching their attention.

"Kuya!"

"Ate." Rizal grinned. "What, not busy today?"

"Nope. I got bored, so I decided to go look for you." She winked. "You want to go explore New York?"

"Why not? We're close to Manhattan, from what I heard."

And the two of them smiled as they headed out of the school into the newly falling snow.

**/=+=/**

**Well…school is starting soon…meaning that the updates will be less…**


	73. The Song in the Snow

**Nom nom. I'm a cat.**

**/= [DAY 89] =/**

The snow falling meant that everyone was happy. The first day of the snow, Yong Soo and Alfred were attacking everyone with snowballs. Charice and Rizal were able to duck over a few more before seeing one smack Feliciano over the head. The both of them watched as Ludwig went to his aid and saw the Italian laugh cutely, causing him to hug his boyfriend with something that made Charice squeak in delight. She didn't notice it, but Rizal had quickly left afterwards.

Figuring that he went to class early, she headed into the lobby and noticed that Matthew was standing quietly in the corner holding Kumajiro and blushing _(a side effect of standing around in the cold)_. Life? Maybe. Life is embarrassing. Especially when half your guy friends are…well, for lack of a better word: _**mentally challenged.**_

"You need something?"

"_No…"_ He answered. _"I'm just…waiting for someone."_

"Alfred?"

"_No."_

"Then I'm out."

"_More people know me now, Charice…"_

"I know…but most of them are worth avoiding because they're _**creepy**__**."**_

"_Yeah…"_ Matthew laughed. _"That's true…but still, you have to admit that they are all quite animated."_

"It's the snow. Apparently that makes half these people a third of their age." She looked back outside. "Even Ludwig."

"_Germany?"_

"Yeah. He's been living with Gilbert, you know. Something up there has to be tainted…speaking of which, you were raised by Francis right?"

"_A-are you saying that I obtained…__something__ from him?"_

"I'm just checking…"

**/=+=/**

The both of them walked quietly in the hallways as they went to their photography class. Kumajiro seemed snug in his arms despite the fact that he seemed pretty big, and they weren't talking about much _(usually Charice was complaining about someone groping her…not Yong Soo)._ When they went through the door, the teacher smiled.

"Nice to see that you actually arrived."

"Hah?" She looked at the clock. "Wait a minute, how in the world is my watch five minutes late? Crap, we're late!"

"_I-I should've known too…it's my fault, really…"_

"Well, it doesn't matter. You two are going to be partners for this next project anyway-"

"_**YES!**_ I WORK WITH A MAN THIS TIME!"

Matthew, not surprisingly, feared for his life.

**/=+=/**

"_What's the project?"_

"I'm not sure." She looked at the paper. "Light and shadow?"

"_I think it's nothing more than the image of something with a dramatic shadow."_

"Huh…let's test it." She went to one of the columns. "Take a few shots of me."

Matthew nodded as he put Kumajiro down and took the camera, seeing her take a lot of dramatic poses from jumping like High School Musical to trying to run up a wall. Despite having a Persona and having a slightly advanced physical status, she failed that one horribly.

"_You OK?"_ He panicked.

"All's good, all's good." She stood up. "It's the snow. Cushions a lot of things~!"

"_Except pain?"_

"Except pain."

"Geez, what are you unawesome people doing?"

The both of them looked up and saw that Gilbert was standing there with an interested look on his face _(why the heck was he out of class?)_. Around that point, Charice had cleaned off all the snow off her uniform and had stopped shivered from the cold…for a few minutes.

"Doing a photography project." She answered. "Dynamic pictures~!"

"Anything dynamic has awesome attached to it!" Gilbert posed. "You want a good grade? I'm the best subject you got!"

"Okaaaay~!" Charice clapped her hands. "I pose him! Matthew, you take the pictures!"

Matthew nodded as he started taking pictures of them with their crazier poses. Halfway through the photo shoot, Gilbert's poses stopped being crazy and started being…well, dramatic. He started leaning on columns, look dynamically into the sky, and even stole his glasses to give himself a better look as he snapped his jacket open.

That's when he…saw something.

The way he snapped his jacket open seemed to stop the air around them. The world moved in slow motion, and Matthew was utterly fixated at the image. Before he knew it, Matthew had silently pulled out his phone and took a picture of him in his glory. He stared at it before noticing that someone was talking to him.

"_Huh?"_

"I said did you get it on the camera?"

"_W-well, it turned off on me when I did it…w-we'll have to do it again."_

"That's fine." Gilbert winked. "Awesomeness that is me can't be caught once!"

That was true, Matthew thought as he held up the camera. That was true.

**/= [DAY 90] =/**

Charice couldn't help but hear the music club working on their Christmas segment as she passed by during her lunch break. Her bento box was getting cold, but nonetheless she had to see this one. She took a peek inside and was instantly grabbed on the shoulder, causing her to scream bloody murder.

"You really have to, like, be a lot more careful!"

"I am, Feliks…geez." She was still holding her bento box. "I was just looking inside."

"Well, you should, like, totally hear this! You're going to totally love it!"

"Please control yourself, Feliks." Roderich sighed. "We barely started with the second song."

"Come on, you have to enjoy it just a little bit." A voice rang out. It was Seyel, her ears told her.

"I do…but we can do this a lot better. Now if Feliks can please return to his seat, we can get this started."

Feliks sighed as he went back to his seat, allowing Charice to take a lean on the doorway and watch them play _'Jingle Bells'_ with an acoustic guitar- wait, what?

"Did Gilbert invade this place?" She couldn't help but remark.

"…_maybe…"_ A voice drifted from the back. It was Greece…Heracles, right?

"No he didn't." Irunya blinked in confusion. "You just bumped into him."

"…_oh."_ He sighed, leaning back. _"That makes sense…"_

Was this guy high?

"Let's just take a break now." Roderich sighed. "No one's focusing."

"At least we can have lunch." Eduard grinned. "I brought a lot of it."

Charice sat down between Irunya and Roderich as she brought out her bento box to eat out Kiku's created lunch. He was a really good cook, her tongue told her. God bless the rice. God bless the fried rice and the soy sauce packet that was next to it. And of course, she had Spam with it. God bless Spam as well.

"Hey, Roderich. Are you going to eat anything?" Someone asked that.

"I just drink coffee during these times." He answered quietly.

_Oh yeah…the coffee that he showed me…the really sweet one._ She almost got a sugar high just by thinking about it.

"You should eat something." Irunya laughed. "You can't be starving yourself like that."

"…_Greek yogurt?"_

"How about some Spam?" Charice laughed. "You eat meat, right?"

"Really, I'm not that hungry today." He sighed.

"…you want cake, don't you."

He said nothing.

"Ce que…perhaps you would like some French yogurt?"

"_**BACK OFF, FRANCIS!"**_

And destruction occurred. Fortunately, Charice sat next to Heracles and hence her food wasn't splattered across the floor.

**/=+=/**

**GUESS WHICH PAIRING I HINTED HERE~? ;D**


	74. Glee Club Party Special!

**Filler is filler.**

**/= [DAY 91] =/**

The Glee meeting was going to be an interesting one. At least, that's what she thinks is going to happen the minute they all gathered into the auditorium. She sat down in a place and saw with surprise that a lot more people had gathered into the place willing to hear this beautiful play of whatever they're going to do today.

"All right, anyone who's part of the Glee Club! Gather in the front over here! The rest of you get to sit on the sides."

She never thought that Alfred could be so _**organized**_, concerning the fact that he was on the list of **"World's DUMBEST People"**, but then again this was America that she was talking about. The majority of them are OCD, are they not? Oh well, who cares? People are going to start singing. Hot people are going to start singing. Feli-chan is going to start singing. And he's not hot. He's a moving plushie doll.

From the corner of her ears, she could barely hear the Latino countries gossiping about how hot the other countries were. Seeing as how the majority of those were women, she wasn't that surprised. Then again, a lot of them were naïve to the point that the majority of them were as gay as Christmas Day _(no pun intended)_. There were rumors going around, and they all knew that Ludwig and Feliciano were together. She could've sworn she heard Ecuador ask if Feliciano was really a woman in disguise. That actually made her ponder for a while.

As she started thinking about it, she looked up and saw that the concert had actually began. Before she knew it, she saw Feliciano walk up onstage wearing a skirt _(she canNOT make this up)_ and singing the most beautiful rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" that she almost thought that she was Elizabeta…until Elizabeta actually sang the second half. All the girls went wild and Charice did end up thinking about whether or not Feliciano was a guy. She was going to have to check up with Ludwig about that.

Speaking of which, she couldn't help but realize just how appropriate that song was in terms of Feliciano's rather crappy former life. She closed her eyes and heard the lyrics, and she couldn't help but think about him and Holy Roman Empire. Heck, the entire song was nothing more than about the singer reliving his life with someone else that they really cared for until crap happened and he left for good. She opened her eyes and thought that Feliciano was about to just burst out in tears _(must be her fanwriter intuition…and holy crap, were his wrists bleeding NOW?)_. It was accompanied with the fact that while his voice was wavering toward the end and Elizabeta was taking over it.

Come to think of it, wasn't she happily married once?

Charice's eyes almost widened at just how appropriate the song was. At one point it was getting so emotional that she had to turn her head away and watch the other nations going all teary eyed at just how beautiful the song was coming out of these two. Magnus and Peter were literally bawling to the point where a swift Berwald smack shut them up, but even Berwald was losing a bit of his manly pride. What really surprised her was that Natalya and Ivan were sitting next to each other, none of them trying to grab / avoid each other. Natalya was twitching _(probably lost in thought)_ before Ivan's hand reached out and held her hand. Charice couldn't help but laugh at the shocked look on her face before the stoic expression returned and she turned away.

The song ended quietly, and the two of them left the stage in just about the same way. Elizabeta was joined by her female companions, but then she saw Ludwig at the side when Feliciano almost missed him. He was quick to find the last of the hidden emotions that he was letting go _(aka the stigmata)_ and quietly patted the blood away where upon the Italian fell in his arms and sobbed the rest of the hidden pain away. Ludwig smiled and kissed him on the forehead…and she almost crashed through the stage.

She had to shut up that part of the mind as the Baltics were pushing furniture on the stage and saw Alfred and Arthur setting themselves up. Roderich went to the piano and they ended up playing a rather classic Christmas song that nonetheless made all the women wet themselves from the excessive amounts of blood shooting out of their noses. Was it bad that Yong Soo was sitting next to her drinking hot chocolate at the time? Probably so.

"This is getting interesting, da ze." He stated.

"Yeah…" She turned her head. "What, you're not going to sing?"

"Not this week. I completely blew off everyone's heads last week with Korean epicness so I decided that I might as well give Alfred a chance."

"Oh." She grinned. "I should get a song in here one of these days."

"You can just jump the stage once, da ze."

"…_**really?"**_

"Hell yeah, da ze." He looked up. "Oooh, it's the next song!"

Charice looked up and saw that Alfred had thrown up a leather jacket as Gilbert and Antonio swarmed the stage. The Music Club had jumped in from behind and they started with a rather entertaining pop song that wasn't stupid or repetitive. Besides, Antonio looked hot singing and not rapping. Gilbert was rather entertaining as a rapper, but nothing tops Alfred. Heck, he was the fatherland of rapping…right? Or was it Arthur- **TIME CONTINUUM FUCK-UP!**

Whatever. She was going to try topping the rapping later. Maybe never. Who knows.

She wasn't even paying attention when Matthew graced the stage and started singing a song that sounded rather simple…and _**loud**_ for his standards…and this was a rather quiet song next to all the screaming from the other songs. It was then that she learned a few rather interesting things when it came to her classmates.

The difference between quiet Matthew and awesome Matthew is just as simple as flipping the hoodie up.

Roderich and Heracles were the world's best back vocalists despite the fact that Heracles is even quieter than Matthew.

When Heracles speaks up over a whisper, he kinda sounds like a normal Gilbert.

Berwald is a _**fierce**_ dancer.

Heck, she had no idea it was possible. But there it was. During the song everyone just broke out dancing and soon he and Ivan were out in one fierce dance war that got everyone else in mini battles. Ivan's ended up winning because Irunya started to do a booty shake and won the whole crowd over _(must've been drowning in the moment or something)_. Charice ended the battle staring at her nonexistent breasts and being rather depressed about them.

"Oh you're not going to…" She heard Li Xiao whine to the Music Club.

"Like, we're _**totally**_ going to do this!" He laughed. "And we're going to, like, make this song a lot better!"

"…I'm leaving."

And Li Xiao headed out before the Music Club started singing / playing "Friday". I am not making this up. The whole audience almost evacuated the room before realizing that three hot guys playing guitars and drums are better singers than an American teenager and decided that this was at least on tolerable levels. Besides, the dance war needed a part two. And someone had to stop Alfred from screaming in fear.

Before she knew it, Charice was in a dance battle with Ludwig. And that German bastard can sure as hell dance techno like he was the freakin' master of it. Unfortunately, he wasn't aware that Charice was a master in about everything else. And yet somehow Ludwig still won. Must be biased judging out there.

Whatever. The song was over and everyone was as exhausted as ever. It wasn't even a Glee meeting anymore: it felt more like a cheap party without the booze and food. Charice got bored of hearing the tired people and headed up the stairs to see that someone had abandoned a perfectly nice-looking guitar. Before she knew it, she was singing a song that she remembered she had on her iPod. She barely noticed Li Xiao and Kiku joining her for back vocalists, being too interested in the song that she was singing. She could barely notice Feliciano and Ludwig holding each other and Heracles falling asleep on the floor.

And from the corner of her eye, she could barely see that Rizal had turned and left the room.

**/=+=/**

**The songs used in this Glee Chapter **_**(in chronological order):**_

"**I Dreamed a Dream" by Les Miserables / Glee **_**(no one cares which one you use)**_

"**Baby, It's Cold Outside" I have to do the Glee version because IT'S SEXY AND IT HAS TWO GAY GUYS IN IT. AMERICAN YAOI FTW.**

"**Lighters" by Eminem ft. Bruno Mars and Royce Da 5'9**

"**Tonight Tonight" by Hot Chelle Rae**

"**Friday" by Glee **_**(remember…GLEE. Cause they do it just a liiiitle better)**_

"**If I Die Young" by The Band Perry**

**I was just about to have Charice sing "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj, but it was too crazy for me to do so.**


	75. A Sad Secret Revealed

**Don't we love the Christmas fillers? We sure do!**

**/= [DAY 92] =/**

Charice couldn't help but notice Matthew dazing off during class. While she was busy handling the photographs, Matthew would quietly drag himself along and stare at the Christmas ornaments that were hanging on the walls. He seemed to really enjoy the ones that can actually show his reflection. She couldn't help but stare.

"What're you looking at?"

"_N-nothing…"_ He mumbled back. _"I just didn't get much sleep last night."_

"Well, that's bad. People need sleep!"

"_Yeah…I know that…"_

"You need a break. Here, sleep on that bench over there. I'll stay nearby and take pictures for us."

"_Are you sure?"_

"All's cool, all's cool~"

Matthew didn't have any time to object as she pushed him to the nearby bench for him to sleep on. He watched as she pranced away with her usual grin and began to harass the sadly nearby Italian brothers. Maybe going to sleep was a good idea after all…

"Is she chasing them off again…?"

"_Hm?"_ Matthew looked up. _"Li Xiao? What are you doing out of class?"_

"Different schedule. I don't have a class at this time period."

"_Oh…I didn't know we operated like a college…"_

"Fun times, isn't it?"

"_I guess so…"_ Matthew stared at him. _"So what are you doing here? Never saw you here when we crossed through a couple times."_

"I usually just hang out in one of the lounges with Yong Soo. He's harassing Yao now that he found his hiding place, so now I have nothing to do."

"_Oh."_

"Yeah."

"…_Li Xiao?"_

"Hm?"

"_How long were you with Charice? Fighting the Shadows and all?"_

"Quite some time. Charice found out about the Shadows after Carlos was murdered, so she became my partner afterwards…"

"_So…you know more about this than she does?"_

"I know all about the Shadows, Matthew. Carlos taught me."

"…_Cuba…?"_

"Yeah. He was a Shadow hunter too, taught me everything."

"_He never told me anything about this…"_

"Not surprising. If all the nations learned about something like this, we would end up trying to figure out how to use their powers"

"_T-that's dangerous, isn't it?"_

"If that's bad, try imagining how the humans would've reacted to it."

"…_some of them would try using it…exploit their powers…"_

"I heard Hitler did."

"_He did?"_

"That's what Carlos told me. From what he heard, he was a victim just like you and the others. He fell into the other world and saw the sadistic side of what I would imagine to be a Jewish psychopath. Went insane…literally believed all that he was thinking…and went ahead with the Final Solution. It ended up being so powerful that it affected Ludwig as well, hence what his Shadow was."

"…_he saw his Shadow…?"_

"And was most likely possessed by it. Unlike us nations, humans can either be killed by their Shadows or possessed by them. In those cases, most people think they just lost their heads out of nowhere. That's how most of them actually occur. Normal people can't handle the other side."

"_But how did you? Last time I checked, you have a human body too."_

"All of us do. And like how some people can obtain a natural immunity, me and Carlos just happened to be able to enter the other world without any ill effects. In fact, we didn't even have to face our Shadows. We already had our Personas when we fell in by accident…well, when I fell in. He was doing it since birth."

"_Natural…immunity?"_

"Charice had the same immunity too when she followed me in to save you. But unlike the both of us, she had the ability to change Personas at will."

"_I've seen that ability. I talked to Arthur and he called it the __Wild Card__."_

"It's a very useful ability, but it just tells us so much more about Charice…"

"_I-it does?"_

"A Shadow is supposed to be created when a problem arises and the mind cannot find an answer to it. In a Wild Card's case, he or she would've had multiple problems that they had solved by themselves, deep enough to actually obtain this ability. But for Charice…she's different…"

"_How so…?"_

"I know you wouldn't understand because you're not as sensitive as me and Arthur, but her aura is extremely unstable…"

"_Unstable? But she's the sanest one out of all of us, right?"_

"Yes…but it had been waxing and waning instead of stabilizing…I've only seen this once before."

"_Once? When?"_

"Ludwig. During World War II."

"_What?"_

"It's strange…she has all the symptoms to snap and turn psychotic…but she's not."

"_Unless it's something pertaining to her Cute-Obsession mode."_

"That would be true if the effects were minor…but it's literally taking over her body."

"_Is that a bad thing?"_

"This might be…worse than actually being killed by her Shadow…"

"_H-how?"_

"It's as if…her Shadow is literally feeding off her…"

"_**What?"**_

"Stuff like this usually ends up with cutting their lives in half…something is poisoning her from the inside…"

"_Oh my god…w-what about Rizal? He's the Philippines too, so…!"_

"He's not affected. I've seen him before…he's perfectly normal. Maybe it's because he still has a grudge against Antonio, but…"

"_So…you're saying that it's because she's hiding a secret from us…?"_

"Everyone's hiding their own secrets. Hers is literally eating her soul from the inside."

"_W-would it be because of her rule under Antonio…?"_

"No, if it was Antonio would've realized it. But Rizal was the one that fought him."

"_So we're back to square one…"_

"Yeah…but there's something interesting about it…"

"_What do you mean…?"_

"The fluxing of the aura…it's centered around her left arm for some reason..."

"_Is that…weird?"_

"That kind of fluxing means that the Shadow had touched her before."

"_Like…it attacked her?"_

"If that was true, then she wouldn't be alive. Shadows don't show mercy until they turn into Personas…"

"_So she handled the Shadow on her own?"_

"That still won't explain why her soul is deteriorating…"

"_W-what about those markings that we got from the day we turned into robots? Are they doing anything?"_

"No. If anything, they're actually calming the aura down and straightening it…it's the only reason why I'm not panicking right now."

"…_do you think that the murderer is doing this to her?"_

"Keeping a hostage that they're going to use later…when the time needs for it…that _**bastard**_. I'm not forgiving whoever this person is…never."

"_Can we save her…?"_

"Until we know what's affecting her, no we can't. We can only watch…"

Matthew watched as he saw Li Xiao's hand slowly clench into fists, glaring and turning away as if he was holding something back…or perhaps not going to turn into a rage. They fell into silence, trying to figure out what was going to happen to her now.

"_W-who else knows this?"_

"Arthur, who told me everything…and Kiku. The both of us discussed it while we were eating out one day."

"_He's worried too, isn't he?"_

"Just as much as I am. Those two are good friends, you know."

"_Yeah, I know…I guess it was pretty weird to ask such an obvious question…"_

"It's fine."

"…_does she know about all this?"_

"…no. She's a ticking time bomb and she doesn't know it…"

"_T-that's horrible…"_

"_**Hey~!**_ What're you two talking about?"

They looked up and saw that Charice was standing in front of them, still wearing that smile on her face and having the camera dangle quietly around her neck. The smile no longer looked as innocent as it used to be…it looked more like a smile of a terminally ill patient who accepted what was going to happen.

"Just school stuff." Li Xiao answered. "That's all."

"Geez…don't feed into the Asian stereotype! People _**listen**_, you know!" Charice laughed. "Well, sorry to cut this short but me and Matthew have to go back to class!"

"That's fine. My class is starting soon anyway." Li Xiao stood up. "You should go."

"_Y-yeah…"_

Matthew looked at Li Xiao with a worried look before going to follow Charice back to his classroom. Li Xiao sat there for a few minutes before pulling off his sleeve to his left arm, shining a green mark that had his emblem surrounded by green dragons. And on one of the green dragons was a long scar that touched the dragon's tail.

_I'm going to save you, Charice…we all will…_

**/=+=/**

**Again…I'm losing filler ideas. Once the Christmas arc and the New Years arc is over, then I'm getting into the story arc. Relax.**


	76. Presents Are So Damn Hard To Find

**Yes, I'm running out of filler ideas. Deal with me here.**

**/= [DAY 93] =/**

Christmas was coming close. As a result, people were now starting to wonder what they should get their respective others for the holiday. As Charice wandered down the hallway, she could literally see people pacing in fear about what they were going to get the others…avoiding the mistletoe at the same time. Seriously, who places those things there…?

It was around that time that she noticed someone walking around holding an inner tube. Upon leaning forward and squinting, she couldn't help but realize that he kinda looked like Feliciano…only that his curl was a bit boxish or something up to that matter. But whatever. She jumped on him all the same.

"Yaaaaaaaaay~!"

"Waaaaah!" He jumped back. "What in the world?"

"Ahahahaha…Italians are cuuute~"

"Awww…a lady thinks I'm cuuute…" The boy laughed. "And you are…?"

"The name's Charice, the Outer Islands of the…" Wow, that was a mouthful. "Just half of the Philippines. You?"

"Adriano Vargas, the principality of Seborga." He bowed to her. "Nice to meet you."

"Principality? Like…a small country?"

"I'm part of Italy, thank you very much."

"Woooow…I'm sorry, I'm just not used to segments of a country being its own- oh."

"What?"

How in the world could she say something like that and not remember Li Xiao? He was Hong Kong of all places…a freaking _**New York City**_ in Asia, so powerful that it has its own incarnation! What the hell. Maybe she was so used to referring to everyone by their human names…

"I was just remembering something, no worries." Charice laughed. "You're the youngest of the other Italians, right?"

"Si. Why?"

"Well…"

_*chu*_

…

…

…

…

…

"Yaaaay, a lady just kissed me~"

"What, haven't been kissed by one before?"

"No…" He swung back and forth. "First kiss."

…

…

…

…

…

…

"_**No, Adri, DON'T!"**_

"_**KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!**__**"**_

**/= [DAY 94] =/**

Christmas was just around the corner. The kids were now chanting for its arrival…seriously. But what was seriously on everyone's minds was the presents. Everyone wanted the presents. The non-Christian countries weren't as hopeful, but they were curious about celebrating it in America…who was now going insane about the presentry. As Charice headed to one of her classes, Alfred literally dropped chocolates in her hand.

"It's only the best~!" Alfred winked.

"…Hersheys?"

"Hell yeah."

"_**I LOVE YOU, ALFRED."**_

"I know you do! We all do! Ahahahaha!"

_And that's why people think you're annoying. But whatever. Chocolate's involved._

She skipped down the hallway and found herself in the lobby, eating all the candy that Alfred had given her and yes, she had run out. She was about to hunt Alfred down again when she realized that Rizal was there, looking around with a curious look on his face. Charice was about to greet him _(and maybe haggle him for candy)_ when she saw Ludwig heading toward him. She quickly backed off and leaned in to listen.

"You're here already?" Ludwig asked.

"Yeah." Rizal looked confused. "Is that…bad?"

"No…it's just that I hear that you're usually late to meetings."

"That's because I have to wait for Charice." He answered. She began to seethe a bit. "But it's fine. What can I help you with?"

"Um…you're not helping me with anything."

"Huh?"

"Well, you see…I won't be able to see you at Christmas because I'm planning on spending that day with Gilbert and Feliciano's family."

"Oh…well yeah, that's reasonable." Rizal sounded a little disappointed for some reason. "It's Christmas. You're supposed to spend time with your family."

"T-that's not it…I'm saying that because it'll be impossible for me to give you your present during that time, so-"

"Wait, _**what?"**_ Rizal sounded the most surprised that Charice had ever heard.

"Yeah. I never forget my friends at times like this." Ludwig started digging into his pocket. "I'm not sure what exactly you want, but this is the best I can make of it…"

It was then that he pulled something out and handed it to him. She didn't see much, but she did see a hint of silver and blue before seeing the rather shocked look on Rizal's face. They stood there in dead silence before he heard a light chuckle from the rather surprised Filipino.

"Do you like it?"

"Like it…? It's perfect." He was actually laughing…and it almost sounded like he was crying, too. "Weights just as much as my old one…"

"Yeah, well…I noticed that it was falling apart, so I thought it would be best to give you a new one." He stated. "I decided against using wood and had some bronze instead…I hope that's reasonable with you."

"It's fine, Germany. Really. It even looks like my old one." Rizal chuckled. "I won't switch immediately, but…thank you. Really."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

"…thank you…"

Ludwig nodded lightly as he turned and headed toward his class, leaving Rizal alone and confused. Charice deemed it safe to come out of hiding, and found herself standing next to Rizal as he held his gift quietly between his fingers. She finally saw what he got: it was a bronze yo-yo, with the image of the Philippine flag on both sides. On one side, there was a German phrase on it that she couldn't read. And on the other side was a Filipino phrase that she figured was a translation of the German.

"Palaisipan ay malutas lamang kapang ang lahat ng mga piraso ay sama-sama." Charice looked back up to Rizal.

"Ein Rätsel ist nur, wenn alle Teile zusammen gelöst warden." Rizal dictated the other side. _**"A puzzle is solved only when all the pieces are together."**_

"Sounds deep."

"It is. It basically means that no one involved is a wasted effort." He stated, testing out the yo-yo. "Nothing is left out of anything…"

"How's the yo-yo he gave you?" Charice leaned in.

"It's perfect." He answered, swinging it around. "It'll take getting used to, though…"

"I heard it was made of bronze…that's kinda heavy for you, isn't it?"

"I should be fine. It's more solid than wood…and a lot more dangerous." Rizal chuckled. "Making this a lot more painful to smack people around with."

"That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"

"Yeah." He was smiling as he flicked it back to his hand. "What can I say? It works."

"…awww…"

"What?"

"You got the best present ever. That means I have no idea what to get you…"

"It's fine, it's fine. You end up making the Christmas dinner anyway, right? Let's just go with that."

"All right…let's go with that." She laughed. "Crap, I'm almost late for my chemistry class…!"

"You have chemistry?" Rizal looked up in confusion.

"What, and you don't?"

"No, because anything with chemicals in it is dangerous once they decide to wander into your hands." Rizal laughed. "I have physics."

"…really?"

"Yeah. It's not that hard."

"_**NOT THAT HARD-**_ ok, nevermind. I'm going to class. Have fun with that."

"I will. Don't worry."

Charice turned and headed out of the location, barely turning around to give a wave. Just as she turned around to head out, she could've sworn she saw Rizal turn back to the yo-yo in his hand and kiss it.

**/=+=/**

**Uh…I don't really know how to say this, but uh…the love triangle for Charice? I was planning to have it solved by the end of the Christmas arc. So if people want to start voting now…or just reiterate what their voting…or burn the other group's camp…well, you might want to do it now.**


	77. Lady Nations, UNITE!

**Let's keep going with the filler, shall we?**

**/= [DAY 95] =/**

The Christmas spirit was going insane. Everyone wanted to do so many things that the place almost exploded. Charice had to make sure she wasn't killed in any way. Dangerous? Totally. But nevermind about that. She had a girl's meeting to attend to…and people needed it.

Ever since the dawning realization that there were too few women nations in this male society, they all decided to ban together and at least try to befriend each other. Since the African and South American nations were a bit tense, those female nations met separately from where Charice was going to go meet up with. She was meeting with the European and the Asian female nations, excluding the Middle East. And they weren't a lot.

Upon arriving at the location _(which, oddly enough, was a lounge next to the cafeteria)_, she noticed that Erika was talking to Lin Yi about something that she couldn't catch. Upon getting closer, she realized that they were talking about something that Vash did that Lin Yi happened to be a witness to. They stopped when Charice sat down next to them.

"Hey there, Charice." Erika laughed. "I didn't think you'd be early."

"_**Why in the world**_ are people saying that? I don't get late because I want to…" Charice leaned back on her chair. "I just had free time, that's all."

"Ran out of free tacos in the lobby?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh, Charice is early?"

"_**Don't rub it in!"**_

She turned her head and saw a laughing Elizabeta standing next to a rather amused little girl and Irunya. The girl ran up to Charice and started grabbing her leg, making Charice jump and scream in shock.

"Ahahaha! She's funny, Irunya!"

"Now now, Wy…let's give her some room. She doesn't know who you are!"

"Wy?" Charice looked down to her. "That's a strange name you chose for yourself."

"No no no! My name is Wy! I have no human name!"

"Hah? Why?"

"Because Wy is already so unique!"

"Oh…that's true…" Charice laughed. "Where's everyone else?"

"They'll be coming soon." Elizabeta stated. "A few people were on their way here, and I heard that even Natalya is coming!"

"Natalya?" Erika looked up. "I thought she would be with Ivan."

"_I guess it's her four hours."_ Charice mumbled.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing…"

She turned her head back up and _(what do ya know?)_ there was Natalya, being accompanied by Sun Tam and Anri. A few more girls showed up _(even Seyel! What a shocker!)_ before Elizabeta decided to gather everyone in a circle. She folded her legs and began to clear her throat.

"Well then…we should start with proper introductions so that way we get to know each other better." She started. "My name is Elizabeta Hedervary, the Republic of Hungary."

"I'm Wy! I'm the principality next to Australia!"

"Erika Vogel. I'm the Providence of Liechtenstein."

"Lin Yi Ling. I'm the Republic of China…without the communism."

"Irunya Braginski. I am the Republic of Ukraine, and big sister to Ivan Braginski, the country of Russia."

"Natalya Arlovskaya. Little sister of Ivan Braginski, and the Republic of Belarus."

"Sun Tam. I'm the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."

"Monica Bonnefois. I am the Principality of Monaco."

"Seyel Victoria. Um…I'm the Republic of Seychelles…"

"Hello. My name is Anri Katherzig. I am the Republic of Belgium."

"And I guess I'm the last one. Charice Pacquiao. I'm the Outer Islands of the Republic of the Philippines."

"Isn't that a mouthful, Charice?"

"_Yeah…_then again, I don't usually have to say it that often until I came to this school…"

"That's reasonable. Most of us don't really state our full name and title if they already know who we are…" Anri stated. "And not too many people know you, don't they?"

"Yeah." Charice sighed. "But I can't just go _'I'm half of the Philippines'_ because that wouldn't be accurate enough."

"And that's a problem because…?" Monica asked.

"Because I have a brother, you know. One I really care for. And he's an important part of keeping our country together." Charice pointed at herself. "Besides, a longer title makes it sound more…_**important."**_

"Or a mouthful."

"_Shut up, Sun Tam. We already know…"_

"Well then…now that we're all together…" Irunya chuckled. "We should talk about something."

"How about boys? All human girls love talking about them." Wy stated.

"Well…we got a problem with that…" Seyel sighed.

"What's that?"

"Well…" Lin Yi rubbed her chin.

"Every guy in the school is gay."

"_**ERIKA!"**_

"Well…it's true." She stated. "And it's not like we can walk around it."

"That can't be true." Natalya stated. "Not all male countries are gay. Like big brother."

"Well…we can just reiterate that statement." Charice shrugged. "All men on the European and North American continent are gay."

"Sad, really." Sun Tam sighed. "Some of the rather pretty boys are in Europe."

"Well, that means that the Asian countries are straight, right?" Irunya asked.

"…um…" Elizabeta and Charice stared at each other. "We're not sure."

"…are there any _**straight**_ countries out there?" Lin Yi whined.

"Uh…"

"It's hard to find them out there…" Anri sighed. "If anything, you have to guess who the straight ones are and see if they're nice enough to be proper boyfriends."

"Geez…what a way to put them in two separate categories." Elizabeta sighed. "I mean, the closest person that might be a little bit straight is Roderich."

"Oh, that's true. You were married to him at one time, right?" Wy asked.

"Yeah…he didn't seem too bothered by the fact that he was with a woman…he was shy, though."

"So he's bi. There's luck there." Charice turned her head. "Anyone else want to throw things out there…see if they're true?"

"Well…" Anri sighed. "I always thought that both Lovino and Antonio were cute."

"They are~!" Charice swung her legs.

"Sucks, though…they're both gay for each other."

"What a way to rub it in, Sun Tam…but then again, it's true."

"I know that…" Anri sounded sad. "But it's all about losing the fight and moving on, right?"

"Yeah…but in this fight, we can never really win." Irunya sighed. "All the guys love each other."

"Did someone have to curse us with this kind of luck? I want to fall in love with a nation and want him to love me back." Seyel sighed. "It's one of those things that makes me wish that I was born a boy."

"There's always someone for us out there." Natalya stated. "Always."

"Yeah, that's something you can say." Irunya sighed. "You found that man. He probably doesn't like you back…but at least you found him."

"While the rest of us still searches…" Monica shook her head. "Do you have any crushes?"

"I used to have one on Ludwig." Sun Tam stated.

"_**Seriously?"**_

"Yeah, so? He's serious. I like men like that."

"Woooow…" Seyel turned her head. "Well, if we're talking…I like Matthew."

"Really? Matthew's the cutest thing out there!" Irunya chirped. "And the fact that he whispers like that when he's normally talking too…"

"I actually don't have anyone right now." Wy stated. "Monica?"

"Well…I always had a strange fascination on Arthur. Either him or Roderich…one of the two."

"_Roderich…"_ Elizabeta's mind drifted off.

"…I'm stuck between Li Xiao and Kiku." Lin Yi looked up. "I used to have one for Feliciano, but…"

"Yeah. But then again, he's really cute with Ludwig."

"Yeah." Sun Tam had to agree again.

"It's fine, it's fine." Charice pat her back. "We're all here for you."

"I'll be fine." Sun Tam shook her head. "We haven't heard from you, Erika."

"…it's stupid."

"No, it's not. We here all agree that incest is fine…in country terms." Charice corrected herself. "Who is it?"

"…Rizal."

"**My **_**brother?"**_ Charice laughed. "Wow…I didn't even think that he was interesting enough to win girls over!"

"He's very interesting…and quiet. He kinda reminds me of Feliciano, a little bit…on how shy he is."

"…Feli-chan…shy…" Charice squirmed from the cuteness. "So moe…"

"Hey, we haven't asked you about who you like." Seyel leaned forward.

"Yeah, that's true." Erika stated. "Who do you like, Charice?"

"…um…well…"

/=+=/

**AND NOW I TROLL YOU WITH THE NEXT DAY.**


	78. A Few Answers are Given

**Try me all you want, you're just going to have to guess what she said!**

**/= [DAY 96] =/**

The day started normal. Everyone woke up and began to vent their fears and annoyance of what the heck they were getting to get their significant others for Christmas. Charice didn't bother to figure out what the heck to do, because she was already freaking out about it. Rizal said that he was fine…and the others? Noooot so much.

She spent her gym period sitting in the bleachers watching the other guys play basketball from the safety of indoors while trying to figure out just what the hell the teacher wanted when she realized that Matthew was sitting quietly on top of the bleachers gazing into nothing with a blank look on his face. Charice stood up and scooted on next to him, noticing that he wasn't paying attention. So she decided to do so.

"_**MAPLE-CHAAAAAAAAAN!"**_

"_**GAH!"**_ He turned his head to her. _"C-Charice…don't do that…"_

"Sorry, you just look out of it!" She laughed. "You got any Christmas plans?"

"_I'm just going to be with Alfred and Arthur."_ He answered. _"Though they might send me out of the house on the off chance that…they want to be alone."_

…

…

…

…

…

…

"_C-Charice? Why are you drooling?"_

"Eh? Oh, nothing. I'm just hungry." She wiped her mouth. "You know, if that happens to you, you can just hang out with me and Rizal. He wouldn't mind the company."

"_Really?"_

"Well, out of all these nations that he would be forced to hang out with…the first choice would be Doitsu-ki, and the second one would be you!"

"_W-why Ludwig?"_

"I dunno, I don't question. They're best friends, from what I heard." Charice laughed. "How about Kumajiro?"

"_He just hangs around me…if he remembers me."_

"You say it like everyone's known this."

"_But that's the thing…no one really knows me…"_

"What, since now? What ever happened with getting your own identity?"

"_It's…it's not really working out."_

"From what I can see, that's right. And who the heck are you staring at?"

"_Eh?"_

"You're staring at someone."

"_I am not!"_

"Says the guy going back to staring at the basketball field."

"_It's right in front of me…"_

"Speaking of which…you've been dazing out a lot recently. Are you OK?"

"_Huh? Uh…y-yeah, I'm fine…just…shopping for Christmas gifts, that's all."_

"Why do I have the feeling that you're lying?"

"_I-I'm not, Charice…"_

"You don't seem forceful with that statement."

"…"

"You want me to give you something for Christmas, Matthew?"

"_No, it's fine. There's isn't much that I want this Christmas."_

"Much? That means that you _**do**_ want something."

"_It's nothing that anyone can give me."_

"Says who?"

"_Says reality."_

"Riiiiight. Just tell me what this is, kays?"

"…"

"Does it have something to do with the guy you're staring lovingly at?"

"_Um…"_

"Come on, tell me tell me! I won't tell anyone about it!"

"…" Matthew fumbled a little bit. _"…Gilbert."_

"What about him?"

_***silence***_

"**OH! **_**OH!**__**"**_

"_Ch-Charice! People are listening!"_

"I know, I know, but…really? I figured that you had a different taste of men…"

"_I know, but…he's one of the few people who remembered me before everything happened…and…"_

"_**Aaaaaand?"**_

"_I was thinking about what he was scared of when we went into his world…the fact that he feared death so much more than I did…"_

"It's common for people to think that. Heck, we nations have to think about it one of these days. We are immortal, but really…"

"_Yeah…but for someone as strong as he is to be that scared…and still care for his brother…"_

"The biggest smiles hold the deepest scars. I guess that quote applies here, huh?"

"_Um…wouldn't that mean that it would apply to you as well, Charice?"_

All she could do was smile back. It was a strange smile…a sad one, perhaps. One that made Matthew remember the conversation he had with Li Xiao. Still, he had to hide his fear. Charice looked more damaged than he did.

"I won't tell anyone, Matthew. I promise."

"_Thank you."_

**/= [DAY 97] =/**

"Ve~~~"

"Feli-chan? What's wrong?"

"Oh…Chari-chan…"

Charice looked at the rather quiet Italian as he sat in the garden staring at a huge clump of snow standing right in front of him. She couldn't help but sit next to him _(hearing him coo a small "ve~" in response)_ and stare at the snow as well. For some reason, she wanted to step on it…but enough about that.

"Is something wrong?" She blinked.

"…snow is pure, right?"

"Hah? Um…unstopped snow is, yes."

"Wouldn't…wouldn't snow also be a mask?"

"A mask for what?"

"Hiding something. The snow goes on top of the ground and covers it to the point where you can't even see what is underneath…it hides what it touches."

"Doesn't it also protect?"

"Ve~?"

"I mean, think about it. The snow may be cold when you touch it, but underneath all that mass of frozen ice is a whole bunch of grass that's going to bloom during the spring time. And with that grass comes beauty."

"…"

"Basically, it means that while someone is hiding something, they still have a warm personality." Charice grinned. "You just have to…dig a little."

"…si."

"What the heck are you so worried about, anyway? You have nothing to worry about anymore!" She knocked on his arm.

"Well…it's just that…I've never really opened up to anyone…even Doitsu…and I'm scared to."

"Why? Because he's that freaking intimidating?"

"N-no…it's just that I'm used to smiling all the time…I don't know how he's going to handle it…"

"…you really need to stop being emo. It's becoming a trend and I really hate it."

"Ve~?"

"Doitsu is trying to help you this entire time. We all are! Heck, we've been trying to tell you this entire time! Sure, Doitsu-ki's the scariest guy since _**Barney**_, but you out of all people know that it's just a front! You know that, right?"

"…si. Kalte Hände, warme Liebe." Feliciano chuckled. "Cold hands, warm love. Thank you."

"Awwwwww. That sounds cute." Charice leaned in. "Did Doitsu-ki tell you that?"

"_Ve…"_

_Since when did Feli-chan get so __**GOD DAMN CUTE?**_

"Italia! Where are you now?"

The two of them looked up to see that Ludwig had been looking for him for quite some time, leading Feliciano to stand up and instantly hug him. Charice wanted to listen, but all she heard were some scattered mumbles in Italian that she couldn't translate _(despite her Italian class. __**WHAT THE HELL?**__**)**_which led to Ludwig stroking his hair and whispering something that made the Italian coo and curl up closer to him.

…

…

…

"…_too…cute…too…cute…too cute too cute too cute…must not eat __**RAAAAAAAWWWWWGGGG!**__**"**_

"_**VEEEEEEEE~! GERMANY, HELP!"**_

**/=+=/**

"Hey, Gil-chan!"

"Oi, Charice! Having fun shopping for presents?"

"Not in the least. You?"

"I got everyone an awesome present this year!"

"Crashing into everyone's Christmas parties?"

"_**HELL YEAH I am!"**_

"Way to go, accuracies…"

"Besides, it's better than having to waste my money on something that no one probably likes, right?"

"Sure, or you could just go ahead and ask what they want."

"Now, where's the fun in that?"

"Yeah, I guess it's true- Canada has a crush on you."

"What?"

"_**FUCK!"**_

**/=+=/**

**Ahahahahaha…we got a few more chappies to go.**


	79. Forgiveness

**I estimate at least two more chapters, including this one. So the Christmas arc is coming to a close~!**

**/= [DAY 98] =/**

"Hm…I have gifts for Feli-chan, Al-kun, Gil-chan, Ki-chan, Li-chan…Lovi-chan I have _**especially**_…who else…?"

Charice continued to skip down the aisle marking down basically every person on her list _(and there was a LOT of them)_ until she couldn't really think of anyone else. And for some reason, she went through about two long pages worth of names. After a few minutes, she turned a corner and saw a rather surprising sight: Antonio was trying to talk to Rizal. She began to get scared as she followed them silently.

She didn't hear much of their conversation, even though it was mostly Antonio trying to find something her brother would talk about. But no matter what, he kept his mouth shut and refused to make eye contact. Still, Antonio continued to try. Charice could literally hear the sympathy that was leaking out of his words. After a few minutes, Rizal finally stopped. Charice's heart began to soar as he made eye contact with the Spaniard.

"Leave me alone. You won't sway me that easily."

"I'm not trying to be manipulative, Rizal-"

"_**Don't you DARE try to be casual with me."**_ He spat. "I'm never going to forgive you. It's as easy as that. And if you try to hurt my sister in any way, I will reenact the war we had together. I will make sure that you bleed."

Antonio was shocked as Rizal turned and headed out, not once looking back. After a few minutes Charice allowed herself to walk forward and touch his shoulder. He turned his head around with a blank look on his face, still covered with tears. It was strange seeing Antonio cry like this. She'd seen it before, but…

"Antonio?"

"Don't worry…I'll be fine." He held his head and laughed. "I just thought that…enough time had passed for us to put this all behind…"

"Yeah…well, not yet…" Charice sighed. "Maybe never."

"Hah…and now I know why Lovi-chan calls me an idiot."

The Spaniard sighed and turned around to walk in the opposite direction, causing Charice to turn and follow him. They continued to walk in silence for a few long minutes, Charice watching his back for quite some time. For some reason, she had a flashback of so long ago…back under Spanish rule. It was just after Rizal had won their independence, and Antonio…no, Spain had come to tell her the news. The look on his face was just like it was now, without the tears. If she could close her eyes, she could remember that memory that he showed her back when they were saving him. How Rizal had talked to him and struck him dead in the heart.

"_**You never cared for anyone…not even yourself…"**_

How that shattered the mask on his face forever. The pirate that he was had fallen apart afterwards, turning into what he was now…at least, that is what she wanted to assume. Even now she could see the old pirate robes on the fragile form, flying through the wind. For some reason, she found her hand reaching out to hold the robe…and instead lightly took his hand. Antonio turned around in shock.

"Charice…?"

"Are you…going to be OK, Antonio?"

"Yes, I will be fine. It's common for nations that I ruled over to hate me like this. Really, I should have seen this coming." Antonio rubbed his head. "But the truth is…Rizal makes me extremely worried."

"Why?"

"Because you forgave me…and he didn't." He shook his head. "I do not wish conflict between you and your brother if it had something to do with me."

"Well then, I'll talk to him. He'll listen to me."

"Not in the least. He'd only think that I swayed you to believe that…and it would make my situation worse." Antonio smiled. "But thank you for caring about me…really."

"It's fine…it's just that you were stupid back then…stupid with a lot of money and power. And like anyone with money and power, you wanted to expand. Me and my brother suffered during the crossfire." Charice stated. "I already burned through my hatred…so I can forgive you now. In the name of the Lord."

Antonio was silent for a few long minutes before smiling softly and chuckling to himself. Charice could only blink.

"Wow…I never thought that you would remind me of Feliciano. Just as naïve."

"Just as sheltered, I guess." She blinked. _**"OH CRAP!"**_

"What?"

"_**THAT'S **_who I forgot! I forgot to get you a present this Christmas! Shit, what the heck is out there you would want…?"

"It's fine…" Antonio smiled, holding her shoulder. "You forgave me for everything I did to you. This is something that…I've been wishing ever since my empire fell apart. I've conquered so many countries…I've hurt so many people…and yet you're the only one who looked back at me and smiled. I don't know how, but…thank you."

Charice could only laugh at the irony of this moment. Here he was: the man that made her suffer for three hundred or so years, and then she turns around and cheers him up. No wonder Rizal can't understand this. Hopefully, he would.

**/= [DAY 99] =/**

The Glee Club had a strange meeting that day. This time, Charice was the one who was running it. And she had Lin Yi bring up a few boxes of costumes for when the people came in. Strangest of all, she didn't charge for anyone who wanted to come in.

"What's going on?" Alfred blinked.

"OK, I wanted to do something really fun!" Charice clapped her hands. "You know that thing in Pokemon Black and White where Trainers just randomly dress their Pokemon up and force them to dance?"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Exactly!"

"Awesome!"

"All right, I have approval!" She turned to the microphone on the stage. "All right, everyone! I'm going to start now!"

The room sank into silence.

"This time, I'm the one doing the planning and I have a really fun thing for everyone! OK, I'm going to need four volunteers from the Glee Club…let's see, uh…Alfred, we already know…Feli-chan…pfft, Lovi-chan-"

"_**I'M NOT **__**FUCKING**__** PARTICIPATING!"**_

"_**Too bad, you are!**_ And uh…oh! Ludwig! Awesome! And now I need four volunteers from the audience…let's see, uh…Magnus, why not? Um…no, Gilbert you're in the club! I'm going with Ion this time! And uh…Anri and Sun Tam! Awesome! All right, I need all of you on the stage!"

They looked worried but did so anyway.

"All right, I need one person with the audience to pair up with a person from the Glee Club! The kid from the audience, you're going to dress up your partner with anything that you have. Lin Yi brought boxes of clothes and costumes as you see fit, but feel free to experiment. Glee Club! You're going to come out with these new costumes, stupid or not, and the four of you are going to improv a song from an instrumental piece played by Roderich!"

"**Why the fuck would I do that?"**

"Ve~~~this sounds fun, fratello!"

"All right, off you go!"

Anri dragged Lovino off the stage, making everyone laugh and join them. Yong Soo was chosen to entertain the audience with his own music as she sat down next to Arthur, who was calmly drinking tea from a cup that he apparently had on him for some reason.

"What's so fun about whatever you did?" He asked. "It's dress-up and improv."

"Well…I gave them water for them to drink in case they were hungry."

"…and…?"

"It's alcohol."

You can just imagine the results.

And by the way, Sun Tam had Ludwig and she had him in a frilly pink dress.

And Yong Soo had a camera.

And Kiku.

And Elizabeta.

**/=+=/**

**100****th**** Day is end of the Christmas arc! Vote on your favorite Asian now!**


	80. Christmas Has Segments PART I

**And here's the end of the Christmas arc! Your vote duly counted and tallied up…and the winner is-**

**MUSIC!**

**That's right…save the first segment underneath this, I'm going to put a song for each segment…going down toward Charice! And once we reach her Christmas segment, she'll have her own song! And yes, this will be separated into segments. Ahahahaha~!**

**/= [DAY 100] =/**

There's something about the word "Christmas" that enlightened everyone. For one thing, everyone had a day off from school and work. And another thing…well, they had to party in the school anyway. Everything had already been set up for Christmas festivities and this time some New Yorkers are going to be invited to play along. Strange, but it works.

Charice didn't work on the Christmas festivities for nothing, of course!

The minute she walked out of the dormitory, everyone was already going out spreading holiday cheer…at least, the Christian countries did. The other nations were doing their best either to stay out of the way or at least pretend to understand what was going on. As she walked through with her bag of gifts, she couldn't help but see Feliciano looking around before seeing Charice.

"Chari-chan~!" He waved to her.

"Feli-chaaan~!" She jumped to his side. "Yaaay, I can give you your present now!"

"Ve~~~! Thank you, Chari-chan!"

She didn't know why: she didn't give him pasta like she used to. This time, she opted on giving him a new cooking pot. She got it from one of America's shops, able to cook the entire pasta at once. The minute Feliciano took a glance at it, he couldn't help but squeak in happiness in response.

"_**VEEEEEEE! **_Thank you, thank you, thank you, _**thank you**_ Charice!"

"No sweat! Besides, on the off-chance that someone else gives you the same present, do me a favor and keep both of them~!"

"I cook lots of pasta! I'll use them all!"

_Oh. Right._ "Oh, speaking of which…I might as well give you my present for Doitsu-ki…"

"Ve? Oh, all right!" He placed it in his bag. "Charice?"

"Hah?"

"Do you think that Doitsu will like my gift for him?"

"Well…I'm sure he'll like it! It's from you, of course, so he'll definitely love it!"

"…t-that's good. I already gave him so much so I didn't know what else to give him…"

"I guess so…but heck, it's Christmas! It's a holiday that's all about being with people you love instead of sharing gifts around, right?"

"Ve~~~that's right…it's a holiday that I can spend with Doitsu…"

"Well…if worse comes to worse and he doesn't end up liking your gift, you always have the option of ***FOGHORN BLARE*** him until his brain starts leaking out of his _***OHHHH~*."**_

"Ve?"

Unfortunately, Ludwig was nearby.

"Hey, don't blame me. That's what Alfred said happened after his first night with Arthur! Poor guy almost forgot his name afterwards!"

And so was Arthur.

…

…

…

…

…

"I'm just gonna go now…"

**/= "Total Eclipse of the Heart" =/**

Matthew tapped his fingers together as he wandered around with Kumajiro looking for Alfred. No one else is going to remember him this Christmas, so he might as well find his brother. He looked around and found nothing more than other people uniting and talking about their Christmas plans. After a few minutes, he saw a glimpse of familiar blond hair.

"_A-America…!"_

He ran after him until he saw the full image in front of him. That's when he froze in shock. It wasn't Alfred that he saw…it was his reflection. He had mistaken his own reflection on a mirror for his brother…the same mistake that everyone else had done upon him. Hot tears fell upon his lips.

"Eh?" Kumajiro looked at the reflection. "Who's that?"

Matthew couldn't answer back, thinking about all the incidences where he had been mistaken as Alfred. Sometimes it would be minor things, like being bumped into in the hallway and being asked about how the Glee club was working or the next meeting with Arthur in England or something. And sometimes there were incidents that just tore him apart. Of course there were moments where he would be ignored on his birthday in favor of America's, but there were years where even Tino would confuse his orders and give Alfred all of his gifts. To make things even worse, sometimes he would even spend Christmas alone. He spent it alone in 2007.

_No one ever remembers me…not even if I speak up…so why bother…?_

That was the reasoning that he had. He never spoke up because no one listened. Everyone used to call him an echo, and then a shadow, and after those words were gone he wasn't called anything but his brother. And that was when he was lucky. He wasn't even a fragment of his image anymore. He was just a broken shadow…nothing. There were more people that notice him, but they're going to spend the day with others. The ones that he really wanted to know him didn't. He was gone. Canada no longer existed in the eyes of the others.

"Who are you?" Kumajiro asked.

Matthew looked down, slowly putting him down at his feet, before turning back to the mirror. He could almost see his life flash back onto the shining surface. On the left, he could see Francis taking care of him with a smile that he treasured to this day. Below it, Arthur had taken him away from his only father. If that hadn't happened, he probably wouldn't have looked so much like America.

More images and faces flashed onto the mirror, those of his brother…his father…his friends…Carlos…god, he missed him. Sure, he would mistake him for Alfred all the time…but once everything had been cleared up, he didn't have to ask who Canada was. The conversation would be reverted back to normal as if they had stopped from somewhere. Few people had that privilege…

"_**Aww…don't worry, man! I'm the hero, and I'll always save you!"**_

"_**Huh? You're not America? But you sure do look like him."**_

"_**Canada? Where's that again? Is that a newly formed nation or something?"**_

"_**Oh, I get it! You're a colony of Alfred, aren't you? Sucks that you had to have him as a leader, huh?"**_

The images continued to flash over the mirror, of all the people talking to him. After a few minutes, they were overlapped by his own tears and then all that was left were the broken boy and the poor bear that still wanted to hear an answer. He stared at the young boy who finally came to terms of who he really was.

"…who are you?" He asked with more insistence.

"…" He smiled through his tears. _"I'm…I'm America."_

"_**Really? America? Your hair is a little **__**long**__** to be that idiot, right?"**_

His head darted up and he stared at the mirror, seeing the image of Gilbert leaning on the window behind him with that familiar grin on his face. Matthew couldn't help but smile at the form. This had to be his Persona trying to make him feel better, right? It was the image of this very problem, being solved right? He shook his head.

"_Maybe I wanted to be a skater."_ He argued.

"_**Well, that's unawesome. Skaters get hurt all the time. You don't want that pretty face of yours to be damaged, right?"**_

"…_no…no, I guess not…"_ He shook his head again. _"But I guess it's the only thing that's different of me, huh?"_

"_**Not really. I mean, your glasses are more angular…your curl is a **__**lot**__** longer than his Nantucket…not to mention that you're whispering everything that you say."**_

"…_no one listens to a ghost, Gilbert."_ He stated to the image. _"They either can't hear them or are scared and run away from them…"_

"_**Ghosts stay because they have something to say, Matthew. They are only satisfied and move on once someone actually listens. In those terms, you would be a ghost…just waiting to move on."**_

"_What am I moving on from, if not death?_

"_**The shadows. The ones that you've been hiding in for years."**_

"…_yeah…hiding…"_ Matthew sighed. _"From what?"_

"_**Hatred. You've seen how all the anger and hatred are focused toward your brother. It terrifies you, it scares you, and after a while you don't want to deal with it. So you hide from everything…you quiet down, you hide behind your brother, and as a result you are safe from the world."**_

Matthew looked down.

"_**And with that safety comes nothing. No one knows you…no one needs to plot against you…you no longer have obligations that might hurt someone else…you're just an observer."**_

"…_I don't want to be an observer anymore…I want to live with everyone else."_ Matthew looked up. _"But…where do I begin…?"_

He saw the image of Gilbert lift himself from the window and walk toward Matthew, almost as if he was going to come out of the mirror and touch him. The image stopped short of Matthew's reflection, and then leaned toward its ear with strange swiftness that it sent chills down his spine.

"Turn around, bright eyes."

That's when he realized that it wasn't an image.

How in the world he didn't realize that was beyond him. But what happened afterwards was that he darted his head in shock and accidentally crashed his lips onto the Prussian. The man made full sure that he couldn't escape his hold, and wasn't surprised that the Canadian gave up so easily. The fingers reached up to his face and he felt soft skin caress his cheeks, and when they parted a soft blush had appeared on his face. Gilbert couldn't help but laugh.

"_You look cute with that…"_

"_R-really…?"_

"_Would I be that unawesome and lie to you?"_

"…_no…I guess not…"_

Their chests started glowing, scaring the crap out of both of them but neither willing to let go. They stared at it as they saw their Persona cards glowing and come out of their chest, transforming into a shining diamond flush before returning back to their bodies. They started back to each other.

"…well…that was creepy."

"…_yeah…that __was__ creepy…"_

"So…how's your Christmas?"

"_Um…I'll be fine. But I didn't get you anything…sorry."_

"Ah, all's well. I already got what I wanted."

"_Eh?"_

And he leaned in for yet another kiss, hearing the satisfaction coming out of his mouth. As he parted, he heard a strange chuckle from the Prussian.

"Man…screw Ita-chan. _**You're**_ the cutest thing out there!"

**/=+=/**

**AHAHAHAHAHA…SUFFER WITH ME AND DO THE PARTS!**


	81. Teaser Trailer PART II

**And the Christmas arc rolls on…~!**

**In other news…geez, so many people voting on this! What, is there some kind of betting place online that I didn't hear about…?**

**/= [DAY 100] =/**

**/= "I Look to You" =/**

Really, what was so bad about this year that made Christmas such a pain?

Lovino was mumbling crap to himself as he wandered down the hallways. Sure, he was going to spend Christmas with Feliciano, but _**really**_. He was going to want to be alone with Ludwig. Everyone knows that. Soon everyone was going to go their own ways, and Lovino was going to be alone. What _bullshit._

He spat that upon himself before he realized that Antonio was standing just a few feet from him, staring at an empty meadow and not saying a word. Lovino walked up to him with a shake of his head.

"Oi, tomato bastard."

To his surprise, Antonio didn't say a word.

"Hey."

Lovino walked next to him and was surprised on what he saw. Antonio was staring at the grass as if there was something he was looking for…only he didn't look like he was looking for anyone at all…actually, he didn't even look like he was doing anything at all. He looked statuesque in appearance: an emotionless face with solid shoulders and dead eyes. He didn't like it…he saw this once before.

"_**Hey. Antonio."**_

He said nothing, not even make a move or acknowledge that he was listening. Lovino's eyes widened: he did see this before. It had to be the worst day of his life. For the first time since that one moment, fresh fear ran through his blood. He grabbed Antonio's shoulders.

"_**Hey. **__**HEY!**__**"**_

The eyes were dead…he was gone. Almost like a dead man standing. Lovino shook him one more time and saw with horror how Antonio just collapsed onto his knees like it wasn't that surprising. Lovino shook him one more time and almost panicked fully. It was almost as if Antonio was a doll. No heart…no soul…nothing.

"_**What the fuck happened to you, man?**_ Did that bastard attack you? That murderer steal your soul? SHIT! Don't you fucking leave me, bastard! _**Don't you **__**FUCKING**__** leave me!"**_

The words just shot out of him like it was natural for him to scream like that. But no matter what he begged, Antonio would not move. After a few minutes Lovino just dropped in sobs. Did he just leave him, out of nowhere, for good? He hated himself, he hated Antonio, he hated the _**world**_ at this point. Why him…?

"…_Lovino…can I ask you a question?"_

"…tch. B-bastard." Leave it to timing to get Antonio back to Earth. "What the fuck do you want?"

"_Was I…a bad person to you?"_

"Huh?"

"_I've treated so many of my colonies with such harshness. I know that, I know it's wrong. And yet none of them want to make amends with it…move on from that…"_

"Bastard. Haven't you forgotten about Charice?"

"_I know, but…I don't even know if she's telling the truth or not. She's just a really kind person…she doesn't want anyone to feel sad. Maybe that's why she lied…"_

"If Charice was nice enough to think about lying to you, I'm sure that she'd be nice enough to at least listen to you and then forgive you. Did all that emo crap ruin what was left of your brain cells?"

"_I'm…I'm just not being used to having someone who loved me."_

That came out of left field.

"The fuck does _**that**_ mean? You shower people with your bastardizing love, cooing for affection like the nutjob you are on basically _**every **__**single**____**BASTARD**_ you meet. What the hell are you talking about?"

"I mean the same way that Charice has Rizal…how you have your brother." Antonio sat up. "Yes, I give people my open affection. And I mean it. But I never have it returned. No one ever had the interest that I give them."

"So…_**that's**_ why you stayed with me even though I spat it all back in your face."

"I'm used to rejection, Lovino. It's how I live."

Lovino had no idea what the heck he was listening to. He was so used to seeing women with Antonio. He was so used to seeing him hit on basically anything with an ass and legs. And now here he was, telling him that through all that time he never fell in love with any of those flings and yet the ones that did catch him never loved him back. He sounded like…

"Takes one to know one." Lovino sighed, looking away. "You're looking at the man who was rejected by his own grandfather. You're looking at the bastard who's never been acknowledged about anything past being Feliciano's brother."

"Lovino…"

"…I haven't told you this, but…when our bosses decided to reunite the Italian lands, they decided that they were going to get rid of one of us. You know what happened?" Lovino glared at him. "They all unanimously voted on me."

"Wh-what?"

"I was on the run for _**months.**_ I was a freaking convict of the land that I was supposed to be. I was supposed to be a dead man. No one wanted me…I was the rejected piece. It was only after my brother begged that they dropped the hit on me…but still…being hated by your own people…"

Antonio had no idea what to think. He was always the boy cursing people off. He was always the boy terrified to death about Charice and wherever she was coming from. And he was…

"I don't hate you."

"I know you don't. Must've been nice that I evolved from the inheritance of my grandfather to being your rusted silver metal."

"Lovino…silver doesn't rust."

"I took the damn class. It tarnishes. Big whoop."

"But the tarnish can be wiped away…and it will always shine underneath." Antonio laughed, rustling through his hair. "Besides…silver is rarer than gold."

"Bullcrap."

"Well…who pays attention to Chemistry class, anyway?"

Antonio slowly drifted his arm over Lovino's body, feeling the strange warmth of the Italian as he decided to lean himself onto his shoulder. Antonio could only laugh and look to the field, his eyes almost glazing over.

"What were you seeing out there?" Lovino asked.

"…the battle I had with Rizal." He answered. "Out of all my colonies, they were the ones that were freed only to be captive yet again."

"I'm sure all of them did the same thing, bastard."

"But they were the ones that suffered through the wars, Lovino. Charice hadn't even seen a dead body until we saved your brother."

"Innocence is bound to break."

"It's a sad fact, but yet that is truth…"

"…is it bad that I actually like Charice as an innocent soul?"

"Yeah…she's not one to cast vengeance on people."

"Her Cute-Obsession mode does that."

"Yeah…true…"

It was then that their chests began glowing. Antonio and Lovino froze as they stared at their Persona cards as they escaped their body and turned into a strange ruby color, going to sink back into their bodies. They stared at each other.

"…what the hell was that?"

"Don't ask me. I don't have a clue." Antonio laughed. "But it's nice to see that you're thinking about it."

"Why's that?"

"Your face is so cute when it thinks. It scrunches up like that."

Lovino could only blush as Antonio lightly pressed a kiss on his cheek. The both of them had the same plan: find the nearest mistletoe and just harass the other one to death…if it wasn't from suffocation.

**/=+=/**

**Teaser trailer, much? Keep voting!**


	82. Death and Rebirth PART III

**Don't I just love harassing you like this? Yes, I do! Well then…is this the chapter that finally has Charice in it?**

**/= [DAY 100] =/**

**/= "In Your Arms" =/**

Arthur stared at the lake before him, frozen from the cold and scratched by the kids ice-skating themselves to their heart's content. It was strange being back here, and the moment itself left a strange taste from the back of his throat. He could only imagine how the others thought of this place…

"Hey, Iggy! You here?"

He turned his head just as Alfred came through the bushes and saw him staring back at the American. He blinked in confusion as he saw Arthur look back to the lake in a daze, his eyes narrow and unfocused. Alfred was really starting to get worried at this point, so he approached him slowly.

"What's going on?" He blinked. "What are you doing here, anyway? Is it because of Peter?"

"No. Not just that. I thought you'd remember this place for life." Arthur turned back to the place. "I was drowned here. You found me in a body bag that was tied to some weights."

Alfred turned his head away, cringing.

"I wanted to forget that, Arthur. You're alive now, that's all that matters."

"Yes, but…I have a feeling that I have actually seen the murderer with my own eyes. That's why I want to remember." He turned his head back to the frozen water. "There are just bits and pieces now…but I think I can remember how he lures them in…"

"You…you remember…?"

Arthur nodded slowly before sitting quietly on the frozen bench. Alfred quickly jumped to his side, drenching his arm around the Englishman as he continued to gaze at the lake. A small sigh escaped his lips as he turned toward the right until he couldn't see his face anymore.

"I had a research project that I had to do. The murderer offered to help me with it, and told me that they were going to meet up with me here." He looked up to the lake. "I was here first and he wasn't here…so I stood here to wait for them. Before I knew it, someone called out to me. I turned to him just as he threw something around my neck…"

Arthur fell silent, and almost in a panic Alfred tightened his grip on his shoulders. He froze before relaxing and leaning back on Alfred's shoulder.

"My whole life flashed before my eyes as it happened…and the sick part was that he _**enjoyed**_ killing me. He was laughing the entire time, saying how I deserved it for all the sins that I have committed. Before I knew it…I was dead. I sure felt like it."

"And how are you so blunt about this…?"

"Because…like you said. I'm alive, right?"

"_**Still!**_ A rape victim doesn't go and talk about the incident after the abuser goes to jail! They wait, don't they?" Alfred turned him around, seeing Arthur bob his head a little. "Seriously…"

"…that's why I'm waiting until now to talk about it." Arthur looked up, a smile on his face. "You're actually smart enough to listen."

"…is that why you haven't said anything…?"

"No…it's because I haven't remembered anything. What use would I be then?" He chuckled. "At least my information is helpful now."

"Why do I have the feeling that you're lying to me?"

Arthur didn't say anything, turning his head back to the lake and seeing as Adriano tackled into Peter and skidded almost the entire way toward a huge pile of snow. Wy had skated closer to them and started laughing, much to Peter's dismay, and began chasing her through the ice.

"Alfred."

"Yeah?"

"What kind of sin do you think he was talking about? Am I really a sinful person…?"

Alfred was silent, holding his hand on his chest and feeling as Arthur was stroking his fingers as if there was nothing else in the world that he could hold. He could feel the fear in his voice, and he didn't like it at all. After a few minutes, Alfred could only chuckle.

"Well, if you count the time that we almost got caught in the boy's locker showers in that-"

"_**I'm being serious here, bloody git!"**_

"Oh…well then…" Alfred chuckled at the blush on his face. "Yes. You are a sinful person. But that doesn't mean you're the only one."

Arthur looked up.

"We've conquered over people's lands…fought other countries for selfish reasons…harassed our own citizens for our benefit…even killed innocents all for the sake of _'peace'_. And we were forced to do it under our leader's orders…less we get punished ourselves."

"We're immortal, Alfred. We do it because a part of us wants to. Our leaders may have a position over us, but we can choose to ignore it if we wish to."

"…you obviously haven't been paying attention to the war, haven't you?"

Arthur looked up as Alfred shook his head. The story will be told another time…perhaps in a quieter place…where there wouldn't be a risk of other people listening in. But whatever it was, Arthur knew that he knew of it because he was sticking his nose in a place where he wasn't supposed to be looking in.

"Are you all right, Alfred?"

"Yeah. I was just thinking about something." He answered. "Then again, I should be asking you that question."

"I'll be all right."

Arthur sat up and looked deep into his eyes, catching all the sun's rays bounce off his sapphire irises and noting just how much he had changed over the years. It felt like yesterday that he was holding a tiny boy in his arms, oblivious to the world. And now here he was, being the protector…and Arthur the protected. He couldn't help but smile.

"You've changed so much…from that oblivious young boy that I held in my hands…from my younger brother…"

"Arthur…you're not my brother anymore…" Alfred leaned in. _"You're just mine."_

That sent full chills down his spine. The only thing that kept them from full-blown making out where their Persona cards coming out and changing into an emerald sparkle before sinking back into their chests. The chuckle from the Englishman could only mean that he knew what just happened.

"Explain, please." Alfred stated.

"It's a way of connecting hearts. Soulmates." Arthur smiled. "A soul that is free from all burden is able to connect themselves to others without fail…"

"So we're soulmates?"

"…I-I didn't say that…"

"Awwww…I think little Iggy likes me~"

"_**I am not li-**_ mmmph!"

Whatever the heck he was thinking at the moment stopped when they crashed lips on each other. There was a strange hesitation in the kiss, making Alfred stop and back up. Arthur was turning his head away.

"What's wrong…?"

"…I was lying to you."

"About what…?"

"I remember something about the murderer, but…"

"What? What about it?"

"…he had red eyes."

**/= "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" =/**

Feliciano looked beyond the snowy landscape toward the people standing beyond them. They were so in love, sparkling with young radiance and being as naïve as the world around them. He couldn't help but wonder if he looked like that with Ludwig. Charice wasn't really trustworthy with anything that pertained to gay relationships. She just ends up drooling and it scared him just a little bit.

"Ve~~~I should go find Doitsu~"

He skipped down the hallways toward where he would usually find him. But upon arriving at the newspaper room, he didn't find anyone there. He left confused and started wandering around the school, calling for him and looking in every nook and cranny for the German. He even asked around to people that were around.

"Ludwig? No, I haven't seen him."

"I think I saw him, but then again I was probably seeing things."

"Uh…I'm not really sure."

"Nope. Not even once."

"Dude, I've been standing here all day like an NPC. I haven't even seen a bathroom nearby. Dammit, where the hell is one?"

"Have you checked his room?"

That was one thing that Feliciano didn't bother to check up on. So with a grin the Italian skipped back to the dormitory, up the stairs, and finally back to Ludwig's room. He knew where the place was in a heartbeat…for reasons that shouldn't be stated in this rated T fanfic. He knocked on the door.

"Ve~~~~! Doitsu! It's me. Are you in here?"

There was no response. Feliciano blinked.

"Doitsu?"

Still nothing.

"_**Doitsu?"**_

He took a deep breath, something he learned during his training. He was probably out at the school, looking for him. He took a deep breath and headed out into the snow, continuing to call for him.

_W-what if something happened to him…?_

There was a murderer out on the loose, after all. And he had used Ludwig as a distraction while he did whatever he wanted on Feliciano's body. He shivered in terror as his footsteps suddenly started slowing down, getting deeper and deeper into the snow. Feliciano looked down and shivered.

_W-why is the snow getting deeper…? Where's the school?_ He looked up. _The school was just in front of me! I just saw it…!_

A pair of red eyes glared back at him, causing Feliciano to shiver. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. The red eyes narrowed as he felt something warm and wet drip down his face and wrists. He looked down and saw that there were blood drips on the untainted snow. His stigmata had just reopened.

_N-no…no, Feliciano! Control your thoughts!_ He heard himself think. Perhaps it was his unused Persona? _The murderer's going to get you if you keep panicking! You're probably under a spell, so…keep going._

He shivered, the wind around him suddenly turning into a storm, before forcing himself to continue on. The blood started dripping faster and faster, the snow coming down in heavier chunks, until he couldn't move anymore. He collapsed onto the snow, feeling the wind getting harder and faster. The snow around him started turning into a bright red.

_No…he got me again…_ He tried desperately to crawl forward. _But I…I haven't given him his present yet…_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Warmth sank through his bones, stirring him from the ice coffin that he had been trapped in. His eyesight was blurry and messed up, but there were no longer dancing whites and blues. Instead, it looked more like the browns that were in the school. He slowly drifted his head to the bottom and saw that someone was replacing the bandages around his bleeding wrists.

"…_mmn…"_

"_Y…re aw…ke…"_ The voice was blurry…distant… _"Th…god. You…in…so much…..scared…"_

"…_Doitsu…?"_

"_Shhhh…"_ He was leaning over his head. His voice was suddenly clearer. _"You lost a lot of blood. You really need your rest."_

"…_o…kay…"_

Feliciano was silent as his neck was lifted and Ludwig replaced the bandages around his head. He could barely see just how much blood was on the marks, but from what he could see it was way too much. He was quietly lowered back down onto the couch that he was on and watched as Ludwig knelt down to his level.

"_What were you doing out there?"_

"…_I…I was looking for you…"_ He stated. _"No one saw you…I thought that the murderer had attacked you…"_

"_Shhhh…" _He caressed his hair.

"_D-Doitsu…Doitsu…"_ He felt hot tears flow with the blood. _"He went after me again…"_

"_**What…?"**_

"_He…he was out there…did something…trapped me in the snow…"_ Feliciano was shaking. _"He…he wanted me to bleed…"_

"That would explain the sudden blizzard we had…but that just means that whoever is behind this is definitely a Persona user…" Ludwig looked back down to Feliciano. _"It's all right now…I'm here. He won't hurt you anymore…"_

"_I…I thought I lost you again…"_

"_You didn't. I haven't left you. I never did. I never will."_ Ludwig leaned toward him. _"Please…don't cry…"_

"_I…I'm sorry…"_ Feliciano cuddled the German's hand on his cheek. _"I'll try…"_

"_Seriously. You've lost enough blood to kill an adult male. Any more blood loss and you'll die yourself…"_ Ludwig kissed his forehead. _"I'm right here…I'm not leaving."_

"…_ve…Doitsu?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Can you check my pocket for a minute…?"_

Ludwig stared at him for a few minutes before proceeding to do so. The minute he felt through it, he found a strange object: a ring, bearing the Holy Roman Empire sigma. He looked back at Feliciano, who was looking at him with a blank look that seemed to hide a whole bunch of fear underneath it.

"_Do you…do you know what it is?"_

"It's my old ring. Back when I was Holy Rome."

"_I…I thought that you would want it back…"_

"I thought I lost this during the war…" He smiled. "Thank you."

Feliciano could only chuckle cutely as he finally sat up, the stigmata closed. Ludwig stood up and saw that he had recovered from the wounds: enough blood was in his veins for him to move. He stared at him, neither smiling nor frowning, scaring Feliciano until he lowered his gaze.

"Your scar still bleeds."

"…ve?"

"I think it's time for me to show you mine."

Feliciano froze as Ludwig sat down next to him, his breaths deep. He took the Italian's hand and lifted it to his temple, hoping that he would find it himself. And he did. His breath slowed to a halt as Feliciano's fingertips slowly brushed his hair away and revealed that there were burns hidden in the hair…in the shape of a gun barrel.

"…Ludwig…? Wh-when was this?"

"The Second War. After my leader rose to power. According to custom, I was supposed to reveal myself to him after he had obtained that status…" He shook his head. "I could see it in his eyes before he was even leader…he was crazy. But after that, I had no choice. I told him who I was shortly afterwards."

"Doitsu…"

"He took it surprisingly well at first…and then took a strange fascination. Around the height of the war, he took it to the next level."

"The height…that's when you stopped talking to me and Kiku."

"Hitler…he…he learned that I wasn't lying and that I really was Germany. He started asking me about everything, from where I was made to how I lived. It all went downhill the moment he realized that I was immortal…" He shook his head. "That's when he developed this obsession…he wanted to be the next Germany. And in his mind, that meant that he had to kill me."

Feliciano's fingers tightened.

"I lost track of how many times I had been attacked. I was shot, gassed, drowned, burned, sliced open, experimented on…anyway that a human can die, he tried on me." Ludwig sighed. "And every time, I was forced to return to work with the same soldier etiquette as if he hadn't tried it, even if I was still bleeding and had scars."

"Doitsu…"

"Most of them had healed…these two are all that I have left." He pointed to his temples. "But they should be gone in a few years…once I no longer have to-"

The hug on his back grew tighter, almost choking him. Ludwig had to squiggle out of the grip just as Feliciano looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

"I-I'm so glad that you got out of there alive, Doitsu! I…I didn't want to lose you!" He sobbed. "I didn't want you to die during the war…I just didn't think you would die under these terms…"

"…it was because of you, really."

"Ve…?"

"I mean…without me, where would you be? You would be lost in the war as well…gone, or worse yet just like me." Ludwig sighed. "The only thing he didn't know was that the only way to kill me was to dissolve the land he ruled…if only he knew…"

Feliciano's grip grew even tighter as he sobbed openly. Ludwig turned to him and saw the hazels that were just shining into topaz, and he couldn't help but try to kiss the tears away. He heard the Italian "ve" in response before he heard a light chuckle.

"…_Doitsu."_

"_Yes?"_

"…_you missed…"_

He lightly cooed as they pressed lips together, before a warmth erupted from both of them. They looked up and saw that their Persona cards had emerged, turning into a light yellow before returning to them. Ludwig looked up and saw the smile that he would kill millions for. The smile that would make him forget just what the world did to him over the years. The smile that, more than anything, he would live forever with.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"U-um…Doitsu?"

"Hm?"

"W-why is Charice biting my leg?"

"Wha- _**CHARICE, **__**NO!**___Get the hell away from- _**SHIT**_** she's got my leg now!"**

"**Ve~~~! **Doitsu, save yourself!"

**/=+=/**

**NOPE! AHAHAHAHAHAHA~!**


	83. Presents Forever PART IV

**Will THIS be the chapter you are looking for?**

**/= [DAY 100] =/**

Kiku folded the paper together on his gift with the upmost precision. He had given all his presents out at this point, but even then he had no idea really about this Christmas. Sure, he had people to give presents to, but this year he had Charice to handle. He wasn't really sure on what she wanted…past food. But then again, they always want food.

_Hopefully, Charice will like this present._

It was strange. Wasn't their first encounter during the war? They haven't even spoken to each other beforehand, despite the fact that they were so close to each other. The Philippines were just so embraced by the Spanish that Kiku hadn't really heard much about the islands even before their isolation policies. And from what he could see in Rizal's eyes, he was grateful that he didn't.

It had been so long since he had seen her in this school. Last time that they had met, Alfred had saved her and her brother from his reign after the war. It was during bad times, and he didn't want to remember anything. To think that Charice had actually remembered him like that…and still wanted to be his friend. Now look at him: he's this love-struck young man going after a girl that was the foil of all his customs…except for Yaoi. Everyone agrees with Yaoi.

_Yes…I'm sure that she will accept this._

Still, he was going to have to be a little weary when it comes to Rizal. He might still have the grudges against him after all that time. What would he think after winning her heart? Hopefully, he will accept him into the family. Rizal didn't seem to mind him at all during the school days. Maybe he had a chance…

"A true man will not abandon a challenge. He has honor to think about." He stood up. "I will take the honorable road."

**/=+=/**

It was strange how this evolved from just a petty rivalry. Li Xiao pondered this as he closed the box in his hand. Sure, he had been inspired like this before…but nothing on this level.

_Hopefully, Charice will like this present._

A long time ago, he had only met the people from her land. A few years into that he had seen one man that was very important to her: Jose Rizal, his name was. From what he heard, he had peacefully started a rebellion that actually overthrew the Spanish Empire there. He had also heard that the nation that led the army was a guy, so he assumed that the Philippines was a guy. He was sort of right.

When they started the first day of school, he saw that the Philippines was a guy…at least half of it anyway. He had never considered the fact that the other half would be a woman…the older sister, out of all things. An older sister that obviously forgot to have a couple of screws tightened when she was released to the living world.

_Yes…I'm sure that she will accept this._

But still. Despite her mental "issues", she was an overall nice and beautiful young woman. Kiku obviously saw the same thing when they met in this school. Li Xiao just had the pleasure of not going into war with her and her brother. Both of them had been victims. Both of them suffered by the Japanese during their military rule. And they both moved on. But despite that, Charice would still see Kiku as a friend.

Because that's what she does. She forgives. She moves on. And she keeps smiling.

"…maybe she will believe in absolute this time…" He stood up. "Hopefully…she can."

**/= "I Will Carry You" =/**

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Charice stood quietly at the archway, not willing to walk out on the balcony and go straight into the cold. She really wasn't used to it _(being one of the warmer nations, of course)_, even though she liked the cold, but even this jacket and glove set isn't going to help her at all. She already gave out the majority of her presents and there are only two more people to find…and these presents she got with care. These were her best friends, of course.

_Which brings up the question…where in the world are they? I've been looking for them forever…_

She muddled around with that question when she heard footsteps going toward her. She turned her head and couldn't help but smile at the face in front of her. He, on the other hand, wasn't paying attention and so seeing her was actually kinda startling to say the least.

"Heeeey~!"

"Uh…hey." He responded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Ditto…then again I've been looking for you."

"R-really?" He had to stop blushing.

"_**Yeah!**_ I've already given everyone else their presents and I have to give mine to you!" She laughed. "True Christmas spirit, don't you think?"

"Well…it's not like I'm used to Christmas. I'm not Catholic, remember?"

"Yeah that is true…whatever. It's funny that way." Charice smiled. "Though…I'm glad that I saw you first."

"Hm? Why?"

"Cause I got yoooou~"

Charice laughed and pointed upward, allowing him to look up and realize that there was a small plant over their heads. He stared at it for a few minutes before blinking, his gaze unwavering at the strange plant above them.

"…what is that?"

"You don't know it?" She laughed. "It's mistletoe~!"

That got his attention. At least he was paying attention to that: he was trying to avoid them this entire month. He darted his head back to Charice, who was laughing at his expression.

"You look so shocked!"

"Uh…well…"

"You _**know**_ what the mistletoe is about, right?"

"…yeah…_yeah…_"

"Pfft. You're blushing."

"Well, what am I supposed to do here…? Allow you to kiss me…?"

"You don't want me to kiss you?"

He froze. That came from left field…not to mention that he kinda wanted her to kiss him. But just to blurt that out is…awkward, to say the least. Especially since Rizal might be nearby. Knowing him, he probably is.

"Actually…I…uh…"

"Are you _**stammering?**_ I'm surprised. You're not one to stammer."

"…I don't know how to say it without sounding a little creepy…" He mumbled. "Or rather…I'm not sure how to say it…"

"Hm?" Charice didn't look like an oblivious young lady anymore. She looked…beautiful.

"Uh…you know Ludwig and Feliciano?"

"Yeah."

"…it's…that…"

"I'm not sure on what you're getting at here."

"Same situation, Charice…uh…how do I say this without confusing you? Hm…well, you see…I'm Ludwig…you're Feliciano…and the same condition applies…I…_think…"_

"Pfft." Charice shook her head. "No it isn't."

"H-huh?" He sounded disappointed.

"I'm more Alfred than anything else. _**You'd**_ be Arthur."

"…says who?"

"Says your tone of voice." She walked up to him. "I never thought you'd be the shy type."

"A lot of guys are…here…" He looked away, embarrassed. "You should know that."

"Fuels the Yaoi, that much I know…though you're straight, right?"

"100%."

"That's…strange."

"Yeah…if not, then I probably would've found someone else instead of you…but then again there really isn't anyone like you…"

"…thanks…" She blushed. "Living in a male-on-male society, it's nice to hear something like this…especially from someone like you."

"T-that's…nice, thank you."

"So…we still have to kiss."

"…"

"You're blushing…"

"Because…I haven't kissed anyone before."

"Neither did I."

"_**What?"**_

"Don't be so shy. Men should take the first step in this."

"Oh…well then…"

He took a deep breath before taking a step and leaned toward her, closing his eyes on the off chance she turns around and gets the hell out of there. Instead, he felt warm lip touch his own and hands reaching out and holding his chest. He lifted his own arms and held her arms. She never felt so warm before. Maybe because she was wearing a jacket. But maybe because it was her…

They parted slowly, and he opened his eyes to see that she was blushing as well. It accented her smile so much that it embarrassed him even more. Still, the fact that she wasn't going away or that Rizal was killing him was a good sign. He thought it was good enough of a time to finally say it.

"_I love you, Charice…forever."_

"…_I love you too, Li Xiao…"_

**/=+=/**

**YES INDEED IT WAS! And the winner of the Asian Wars is Li Xiao Chun with 42 votes! Kiku Honda had 29 votes, but heck it was fierce and I didn't count it if you voted twice. As for the anonymous ones…yeah, I counted them anyway. I'm sure people abused that to death.**

**Crap, I just lost half my viewers, huh?**

…

…

…

…

**So guess on who the killer is, then!**


	84. Small Secrets Revealed PART V

**And we end the Christmas arc today~!**

**/= [DAY 100] =/**

Li Xiao looked around and blinked. Somehow, he was able to win this rival battle and win the love of his life without being observed or horribly mauled. Instead, he found himself walking with Charice clinging onto his arm and leaning on him like he was a life preserver. He liked it…it was just strange in terms of her.

"Are you all right over there?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered with a laugh. "Your arm losing any feeling any time soon?"

"No, not really. I'm used to it." Li Xiao stared at his arm. "Besides, that's my left arm. I'm right-handed."

"Yeah, I guess that's true."

It was then that Charice started stroking his arm, much to his embarrassment. But he had to admit that…well, he kinda liked it. After a few minutes she paused, her fingers tightening over something. Li Xiao could only watch as she slid the sleeve down and stared at the strange scar that was there.

"…when was this…?" She looked up.

"A war…long time ago…" He answered. "I don't remember what it was or who it was against…I only remember that it gave me that…"

"Oh…wow…" Charice looked back at the scar. "It's really light though…the war must've been a long time ago…"

"It was…when I was a child…actually." Li Xiao chuckled. "I guess that's why I don't remember."

"All right…" She smiled. "I won't ask for any more details."

"Thanks…but you don't have to think like that, really…"

"Hey, it's war scars. Here, I'll show you mine."

Li Xiao watched as she backed up from him and pulled down her left sleeve, revealing a rather obvious scar all over her forearm. He stepped over in shock and found himself tracing a long finger down through the mark, thick enough to state that this wasn't just an ordinary sword.

"Who gave you this?"

"…it was Antonio. When he seized my land." Her answer was rather blunt. "It was the only time I openly fought him. He ripped my arm almost completely open. I couldn't use it until 200 years later."

"…my god."

"In fact, he used the same axe he uses today."

"…and you're…OK with it?"

"He's apologized to me about it. Multiple times, actually. And I can use the arm perfectly fine now." She waved it around. "So what's the point of complaining once the wounds have fully healed?"

"Your brother doesn't think like that, you know."

"I know, and I can't blame him. He's never seen the nice side of Antonio, even when he was ruling over us."

"And…you did?"

"Multiple times, actually. Most of them actually involved whenever he was reading something about Lovino back at his home. He seemed so loving whenever he was reading a letter from him…he would remind me of the fathers I would see with their children when I walked down the streets of my city…" She laughed. "I dunno. After seeing the similarity it was hard trying to be mad at him."

"…were you mad at him at all?" Li Xiao stated. "I mean, overall, you had good reason to."

"…I was…once. Even when I saw the good side of him I still couldn't bring myself to forgive him." She sat down. "Until one moment."

"One?"

"It was after we succeeded in gaining our independence from Spain. He came into the house to hide for a few seconds so that he could flee without being found by my brother again." She rubbed her chin. "He didn't seem to realize that I was there, and we ended up just staring at each other for a few minutes…"

**/= [FLASHBACK] =/**

_How in the world…? How in the world did a child beat him in a war when he was the seasoned fighter? How did something this stupid happen to him…?_

_Antonio spat curses to himself as he ran through the streets, covered in his bloody battle robes. He knew that if he stopped anywhere, the natives would be quick to take him down. He had to hide somewhere…somewhere where no one was going to find him…somewhere that was quiet…_

_Before he knew it, he had thrown himself into a house and slammed the door behind him. His breath was ragged…it was painful to him…he couldn't do it anymore…he had to go home…he slammed his back onto the wall and slid to the ground, seeing the bloodstains all over the door. It was horrible. He had to return to the shore soon before he found him…_

_And that's when he saw her._

_When he looked up, he saw a young girl staring back at him, standing in the middle of the hallway and making no move to attack him. He wasn't an idiot. He knew who this girl was. It was the Philippines…Philia, the Pearl of the Orient Sea. And despite the fact that she was cringing at the blood on his frame, she wasn't doing anything else._

"…_what? What do you want?"_

_She said nothing, no facial expressions at all. Instead, she dug into her pockets and threw something at him. It was only then that he realized that it was a roll of bandages. Slowly he got up and started to head forward, toward his room, perhaps to barricade himself until he could leave. Oddly enough, she glided out of the way for him._

_Once he painfully got back to his room, he addressed the wounds quickly. The smaller ones could wait. He had to leave now. He would most certainly know where he was, and he had no time to waste. He switched his clothes and left all his weapons behind. They were of no use to him now that the battle had been over. He had to leave soon…before…_

_He turned around and saw that Philia was at the door, holding a letter in her hand and still making no move to attack him. Antonio was hesitant, but soon he decided that he was going to take the letter in her hands. He opened it carefully and saw familiar scraggles of handwriting that made his hand shiver._

"_You have someone back home, don't you?"_

_He looked up and saw that she was serious in asking._

"_Someone that depends on you."_

_He looked down._

"_He would be taken over a thousand times over without me."_

_She didn't say anything before backing up._

"_Take the back door. The path is covered with trees, but you'll get to the coast faster than if you take the main road."_

_He stared at her._

"_I'm not luring you in a trap. I'm the only one who knows the path."_

"…_why are you helping me?"_

"_I don't know."_

_Antonio stared at this girl before slowly approaching her and then going toward the back door. He looked back only once, seeing that she wasn't following him, and then continued down the hallway to freedom._

"_Lovino…" He mumbled. "I'm coming."_

**/= [END FLASHBACK] =/**

"Wow…I never knew." He rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, I had an idea but…"

"Well, I knew that it would be stupid of my brother to take down a man who in turn was protecting someone the same way Rizal was to me. Besides, he looked helpless and scared for once…it was almost as if he had lost all his intimidation once Rizal had won the battle…"

"And you forgave him then?"

"No. But I was beginning to." She turned her head. "Once I got my own government, I learned just how it ran and how me and kuya were along for the ride. Then I figured that it was just our leaders that made us who we are…sure, he might've enjoyed it once before, but he clearly doesn't now."

"…complete forgiveness." Li Xiao folded his arms. "I'm…I'm still surprised that there are people out there that can do that."

"Because I live day-to-day. Living like that usually doesn't bring up grudges like that." Charice smiled. "Besides, I can't blame a nation for what their leaders decide, right? A leader is just one man. A country is a million. I like to think of all of us as just a visual of the millions of people that we watch over."

"So when you see me, you just see a whole bunch of Chinese families?"

"No. I see Li Xiao Chun, who just happens to be that visual." She laughed. "Though I have to admit that you have to be the cutest Chinese boy I've ever seen in _**my**_ life."

She chirped forward and dropped a peck on his cheek, instantly making his face bloom a bright red. He tried not to flinch _(he was touched, actually)_, but when she saw the reaction he had, she couldn't help but laugh out loud and point at him.

"Aww…you're a _**tsundere!"**_

"H-hey! Don't use Kiku's phrases on me, aru!" Li Xiao realized that he used that word.

"I guess it's something that Arthur rubs off on his colonies!" She rubbed her chin. "Hm…maybe I should take a look at Alfred…"

"_Oh shoot…"_

"So I see the battle has been won."

They both turned their heads to see Kiku walking toward them, obviously seeing that they had just admitted how much they liked each other. He stopped just a few feet away from them before turning to Li Xiao.

"Congratulations, Li Xiao. I hold no regrets." He bowed. "I have done my best."

"I have done my best as well." Li Xiao bowed as well. "And I'll try not to rub it in your face."

"Well, that will be hard, won't it?" Kiku turned to Charice. "So, how was your Christmas?"

"…wait…you liked me too?"

"Yes. Both of us were trying to be subtle in our approach so as not to intimidate you…and scare Rizal of course, but that is beside the point…"

"…you're _**straight?"**_

Li Xiao slapped his face. What a way for Charice to pop the moment. Now it's starting to sound more like he won because of a technicality, not because she actually truly liked him.

"Hai." Kiku blinked. "Are you…trying to say something?"

"Yeah. Well…not that I wouldn't not like Li Xiao if I knew that. It's just that…well, you're so…womanly." She laughed. "I mean, I found a doujinshi with you and Greece in it-"

"_**What?"**_ Li Xiao's face flushed red. "You _**read**_ stuff like that about your friends?"

"Oh yeah, of course I do! I mean, I write them as well!" She laughed. "Though I usually just write Doitsu-ki and Feli-chan-"

"_**Don't want to know…"**_

"…do you have that doujinshi with you right now, Charice?"

"Hah? Oh yeah, I have it right here."

"Can I have a look?"

"Sure."

"…are you serious, Kiku?"

"A true man of honor has a true sense of who he is and will not be intimidated by what others think of him." Kiku opened the doujinshi. "Hm…who wrote this?"

"I'm not sure. It's anonymous."

"Interesting…" Kiku flipped through the pages. "Well…it's pretty accurate…"

It was then that Li Xiao got a semi-fear of Kiku.

**/=+=/**

**Bwahahahahaha…yeah, I'm in school, so updating is going to be a bitch.**


	85. What Do You Expect from Glee Club?

**And now we go into the next day…cause the arc is over, you know.**

**/= [DAY 101] =/**

The day after Christmas Eve was filled with plans for the New Years Day. Of course, Charice didn't care at all because she was too busy sleeping in. Rizal had to drag her out of the bed in order to get her up. And even then he had to make her breakfast just so that the smell wakes her up.

"Good morning to you." Rizal lifted an eyebrow. "When did you fall asleep?"

"_I dunnooooo…"_ Charice sat at the table. "I'm just really tired…"

"Well, too bad. You have a Glee meeting today."

"Really…? People agreed to that?"

"Kinda. I mean, Alfred forced a few of them but the others wanted to come and watch it." Rizal stated. "After all those Christmas melodies, no one wants to start jingling bells anytime soon."

"True, true…" Charice stated, eating her pancakes in peace. "But still…it's too early…"

"That I can agree with." Rizal sat on the other end of the table. "More than anything, it just means that people are willing to wake up in the morning."

"Don't we all know that?"

He shook his head as he sipped his coffee. Charice sighed and just stared at him. Rizal was a strange man, playing the rather quiet boy in school and talking to only those who don't really annoy him too much. The only problem was that he doesn't really seem to try opening his boarders to others. She always seems to be the one to do so.

"Why don't you join the Glee Club?"

"Who, me?" Rizal blinked. "Why?"

"You can sing just as well as I can." She answered. "You'd be a great addition."

"Well…I'm really not interested…"

"Did you join _**anything**_, Rizal?"

"I'm in the Newspaper Club. And the soccer team."

"We have a soccer team?"

"Yeah. Didn't you know that?"

"…no. I was too busy annoying everyone else to see that."

"Huh. What, you mean annoying the Italians?"

"Hell yeah."

"Geez…well, if you want to see them today you better hurry up and eat." Rizal pointed at her cereal. "We're going to that Glee Club soon."

"All right, all right."

**/=+=/**

As the two of them walked into the auditorium, they noticed that Arthur was on the stage fuming about the fact that he was in a French maid's dress. Unfortunately, Kiku's quiet voice was somehow negating the entire argument that he had and forced Arthur to stay in his outfit.

"Oh, come on man! You do look cute in that!"

"S-shut up, Alfred."

"Aw…your face is red."

Arthur didn't turn away, instead deciding to stand there and feel the American wrap his arms around his waist. From the siblings' point of view, it made Arthur look like a girl at that angle. And when Rizal blinked, Charice was gone, and there was a familiar scream echoing from the end of the hall. He sighed.

"_**Charice.**_ Let go of Lovino."

"_**NEVER!"**_

"Ahahahahaha! Lovi-chan is so popular with the ladies, isn't he?"

"It's because he's so adorable~!"

"_**LET ME FUCKING GO, YOU ASS!"**_

"Naaaaaah~"

"_**FUCK YOU, YOU BASTARD!"**_

"I know I won't~!"

"_**GOD DAMMIT **__**AAAARRGGGHHHH!**__**"**_

"Now now, Charice…leave your brother out of this."

It was then that they realized that Antonio lifted Lovino up out of Charice's arms and held him the same way that Ludwig would hold his man. The blush on Lovino's face was the only thing that made Charice realize just what happened between the both of them and continued to latch herself on the poor Italian.

"_**CHIGIIIIIIIIII!"**_

"Awwww…you're so cute~!"

It took at least five people to get her off the poor boy. And finally, the Glee Club started their meeting. What did they start off with? Well…they started off with the goddamn Backstreet Boys. With Alfred, Gilbert, Francis, that guy named Heracles _(at least, that's what Charice remembers)_, and…I'm not kidding here: a leathered up Toris. The girls all leaked of estrogen.

"They seemed to like that a lot…" Arthur stated.

"I know." Charice turned to him. "Why aren't you on the stage?"

"…because of the dress."

"Oh." Charice laughed. "You can still pull it off!"

"_**No I can't!"**_

"Hm…I can pull it off now."

"B-but I'll be naked!"

"…so?"

"_**NOOOOOO!"**_

"Aw."

Charice wondered if she could pull it off anyway just as she saw Irunya go on stage and play the guitar with the rest of the music club. She didn't sound that bad, and all the girls decided to clap in happiness. Irunya waved back at all of them, making all the booby noises in the world. Those noises made Charice look down at her boobs and sigh.

"_A-are you OK, Charice?"_

"I'm…fine…" She sighed. "Totally all right…"

"_Y-you're…staring at your chest for some reason…"_

"…it's a girl thing…"

Matthew blinked for a few minutes before he noticed that Gilbert had taken the guitar from the Ukrainian and proceeded to play something that sounded rather sad and painful for the ears…and I'm not talking about the bad singing. He wasn't that bad when he wasn't yelling his head off. Halfway through the song he turned to Matthew and gave him a rather sad yet still sexy wink, making the poor Canadian blush.

_Mental Note:__ Post-Christmas Day is the creation of the angsty sex wink._ "He seems to be hanging with you a lot."

"…_well, we're…uh…"_ He looked down.

She was about to push on it when she noticed that Gilbert had thrown on a pharaoh's hat and the entire stage had been bathed in red light. A rather creepy chorus echoed in the air, making the poor Filipino latch onto the Canadian for dear life. After a few long and rather _(for lack of a better word)_ **AWESOME** moments, both of them had left the stage and Ludwig had sat down next to her.

"That was…epic, Doitsu-ki."

"…don't call me that."

"But it's **cuuuuuute.****"**

"I'm not cute."

"_**Yes you aaaarrrreeee.**_ Why do you think Feli-chan likes hanging out with you before he flipped over his head in love with you?"

His face turned a little red and he turned away in a mumble. And it was around that time that the stage was filled with silhouettes of girls in Sailor Scout suits. Charice leaned in and saw that one of the girls had the same Sailor Moon hairstyle…even though the hair was a lot shorter than usual. Come to think of it, the curves on the sailor scouts look a little squarish…

Until the lights came up.

And all of them were guys.

And Feliciano was posing as if he was in Playboy.

Oh, and the girl with the Sailor Moon hairstyle? That was Antonio.

…

…

…

…

"_O-o-o-o-o-oh…oh my."_

"Yeah…yeah, this is entertaining." Charice nodded. "Don't you think so too, Doitsu-ki?"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"_H-he's bleeding out of his nose…"_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"_**OH MY GOD HE'S DYING OF BLOODLOSS DOITSU-KIIIIIIII!"**_

And that was the day that Germany's stocks took a massive plunge.

However, a strange heat wave struck Berlin later that night.

Five times.

…

…

…

Hm.

**/=+=/**

**Songs used during this Glee Meeting:**

"**Everybody" by Backstreet Boys**

"**If I Die Young" by The Band Perry**

"**Pieces" by Red**

"**The Plagues" by Prince of Egypt**

"**Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga **_**(the Glee version rubs into the joke a little more)**_

…

…

…

…

…

…

**I just love these ellipses pauses :D**


	86. Just Showing Off

**All right, time for the New Year's arc! After that, we get into some plot relevance! Shocked? Maybe. Especially with school and crap.**

**/= [DAY 102] =/**

There was officially no school until the weekend after New Year's. It was an American tradition they held dear. Some of the nations found that strange. Others found it very helpful, especially Charice. Still, New York City was a few miles away…a few miles too long, if you ask anyone here. So most of them settled down in the school preparing the place for the New Year's Party.

Charice, on the other hand, was lightly skipping the halls on her first official "date" with Li Xiao. And I use the term date lightly.

"Hey, Charice?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you tell your brother yet? About us?" He gestured to the two of them.

"During Christmas. That's a funny story." She turned to him. "You're on the list of people he tolerates."

"So…I'm not getting killed by him."

"Until you hurt me."

"Which I'm never going to do."

"I know." She smiled. "That makes me happy."

Li Xiao couldn't help but smile and chuckle at Charice's unwavering loyalty. He lightly took her hand as they continued down the hallway, barely seeing people go about their daily lives. They turned a corner and were instantly confronted by a rather intimidating Wang Yao. She shivered and hid behind Li Xiao.

"Teacher."

"Li Xiao." Yao folded his arms. "May I have a talk with Charice?"

"I'm not keeping her eyes off her."

"That is fine, aru."

They looked at each other for a few minutes before Li Xiao moved out of the way for Charice to come face-to-face with the Chinese man. The fact that he wasn't blinking was scary to say the least, before she saw Yao lean forward in interest.

"How in the world did you get him interested in you aru?"

"…_**hah?"**_

"I've been around a lot of women during my time, aru. Not once did he seem interested with any of them! I always figured that he was gay, aru!"

"Actually, so did I. It wasn't until he kissed me that I learned otherwise!"

"Wait…_**he**_ kissed _**you?"**_

"That's not even the weirder part! He was competing with Kiku this entire time!"

"_**Kiku**_ liked you too?"

"I know, it's weird! I mean, he doesn't hold a grudge against it, but still!"

"This is so strange, aru…I never thought he would be interested in girls, much less take the initiative…"

"I'm still here, teacher…"

**/=+=/**

"…"

"Aw, come on Xiao-chan! At least he approves of me!"

"…_he didn't have to be so animate about it…"_

"That just means he likes us together!"

Li Xiao could only hope that was the case as they continued down the hallway. After a few minutes they saw the Italian brothers sitting on one of the benches eating their lunch. Charice quickly plopped down next to Feliciano _(much to Lovino's displeasure)_ as Li Xiao stood quietly from a distance away.

"What the hell do you want?" Lovino spat.

"I just wanted to talk to you two!" She swung her legs. "I always love talking to my brothers~!"

"If you're talking about the fact that you were raised by tomato bastard-"

"Ve~~~we like talking to you too, sorella!" Feliciano cuddled close to her. "Charice is really nice, fratello!"

"…goddamn clingy…"

"So how are you, Chari-chan?"

"…Chari-chan?"

"Ve~~~I heard Kiku call you that before, and I think it suits you."

She turned to Li Xiao.

"I never heard it before." He lifted his hands up. "Don't look at me."

"…anyway…me and Li Xiao are dating."

"Finally got a guy that'll be able to tolerate you and your obsession over the stupidest things?" Lovino folded his legs.

"Hey, at least I can get away from Chari-chan's hugs without any of my legs permanently disfigured."

"_**That was ONE TIME!"**_

"…since when did you start calling me Chari-chan?"

"When you started calling me Xiao-chan."

"…point taken." Charice turned to Feliciano. "So how are you and Doitsu-ki?"

"We're doing great. He's still so shy around me, despite the fact that we love each other." He curled up in a ball while eating his food, making Lovino cough.

"He just doesn't know how to separate you from being a friend to being a lover." Li Xiao shrugged. "That's what I'm thinking. You were friends before, so it becomes that awkward."

"Ve~~~~" Feliciano smiled. "At least he's still kind to me…"

"Awwww…you're so cute when you smile, Feli-chan~!"

"Ve~~~~"

"Not that I'm denying Lovi-chan of any love, of course!" She turned to Lovino. "You deserve a hug too, get over here!"

"No, I will not."

"Come on! You know damn well that you want this hug!"

"_**No I don't!"**_

"Too late!"

"_**CHIGIIIIIIII!"**_

"…_wow. She didn't even give us time to put in a page break."_

"Ve? You say something, Li Xiao?"

"No, nothing at all." He turned to Lovino. "So how are you doing?"

"_**I can't fucking breathe!"**_

"That's good." He turned to Feliciano. "What are you eating, anyway?"

"I'm eating pasta, of course! It's topped by my homemade pasta and Romano cheese!"

"…Romano cheese."

"Ve~~~that's what it's called!"

It was then that he realized that both Li Xiao and Charice were staring at him with a strange look on their face. He whimpered cutely and cuddled back into the ball, trying to hide behind his fork with obvious results. After a few minutes of silence Charice turned her head back to the trapped Italian brother.

"**You can produce **_**milk?**__**"**_

"_**NO I FUCKING CAN'T! THAT'S JUST **__**DISGUSTING!**__**"**_

"Then why the hell is it called Romano cheese?"

"Because that bastard Alfred named it! _**It has nothing to do with me!"**_

"Unless he's suggesting that you taste like cheese?"

"_**I DO **__**NOT**__** TASTE LIKE CHEESE!"**_

"Can I check though?"

"_**FUCK NO!"**_

"Ahahahaha! He doesn't taste like cheese, Charice!"

They looked up and saw Antonio as he walked out of nowhere and lifted Lovino out of Charice's arms. He had a strange blush on his face when his face touched the Spaniard's chest, which suggested a few things for her. After a few minutes, Antonio lightly rubbed Lovino's hair.

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't, Antonio." Charice stood up. "But this is Alfred we're talking about. He's a douche."

"True…besides, Lovino tastes more like chocolate!"

"Hah?"

"_**SHUT THE FUCK UP, TOMATO BASTARD!"**_

"What? She asked-"

***POW!***

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Did you get that, Elizabeta?"

"Of course I did~!"

"Eh? When did you come in?"

"I was here the whole time, Li Xiao."

…_girls really are scary._

**/= [DAY 103] =/**

Charice was hanging out with her brother that day, so Li Xiao had the day alone.

He walked down the empty hallways as he saw Toris and Eduard talking about what to order for the New Year's Party, pausing just to hear what he could get his attention on. He shrugged after not caring and headed down toward the lobby, noticing a figure sitting down knitting something. His footsteps echoed on the marble, and the figure turned around.

"Natalya."

"Li Xiao." She turned back to the scarf.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm knitting." She answered. "It's for big brother."

"Is that a late Christmas gift?"

"It wasn't perfect enough. I had to redo it all the time." Natalya paused for a minute before continuing. "Big brother will love this."

"I didn't know you can knit."

"…I guess I can thank your girlfriend for it."

"Hm?"

"Charice. She told me one time that I should focus more about myself and not on big brother."

"There's some sense into that."

"I still think she's an idiot, but I decided to follow it anyway." Natalya looped a few strings around. "After a few days, I found out that I haven't knitted in ages."

"So you're knitting for your brother."

"Yes. Besides, my big sister knit a scarf for my brother and he remembers her." She stated. "I want big brother to remember me too."

"I think he does…just not in the right ways."

"_**What is that?"**_

"I-I'm just saying." _Geez, now I know why teacher is so scared of him and his family. _"Charice fell in love with me because I set my distance from her. I gave her time to herself and her friends, all while trying to get her to like me. And remember that I was fighting against Kiku for her."

"…your point?"

"He's scared of you because he doesn't know how to be away from you. Yes, he's been alone and he wants nothing more than to have someone's company…but you're doing it in all the wrong ways. He sees of you as more of a demon than a human. You're trying to present yourself as a human he would love."

"Tch."

"Take it whatever way you want." Li Xiao stated. "In order for Ivan to start falling in love with you, you have to let him see you as a different person. It's similar to someone trying to get someone who is just a friend into someone who loves them. Friends first, lovers later. You have to get Ivan to trust you without being scared."

"Ivan isn't scared of me."

"I think he is, Natalya. I'm just saying." He smiled. "But there's still hope for you. The fact that you have a good grasp of what you are means that you took the first step. All you have to do is take what you have and use that to impress him. At least he knows you're a good espionage agent. Try something else."

"That's why I'm knitting him a scarf."

"Good. That's only one step. You have a whole walkthrough to go through. Charice and I are here to help you if need be."

"…whatever."

"I'll take that as a thank you."

Odd enough, Natalya meant to say that. As he walked away, she continued to knit the scarf. The design had to be perfect. It was, of course, a scarf version of the Russian flag. Maybe she'll finish the Belarusian scarf soon.

**/=+=/**

**Natalya with character development? College must be getting to me.**


	87. All the Baggage is Shed Tonight

**Just when you think this is all over…**

**/= [DAY 104] =/**

Who came up with the idea that people had to kiss each other on New Year's? Sure, Li Xiao wasn't worried about it the last time, but now that he got a girlfriend it was suddenly the most important thing in the world. Weird, but true. Since it was New Year's Eve, he had no idea what to expect now. Charice never seemed to bring it up, so he decided not to do so…until he talked to Elizabeta.

"_**ARE YOU CRAZY? NOT DISCUSISNG THE MOST IMPORTANT WAY TO START THE NEW YEAR'S? You must be nuts!"**_

"Geez, calm down! I'm not that worried about it." Li Xiao stated. "If she wants to kiss me, fine. I'll do it in a park or onstage with thousands of people watching. I'm not going to reject anything here."

"That's not the problem! You have to tell her that you're all right with everything! Women don't like it when their men aren't telling them everything that they want to know!" Elizabeta rubbed into his face. "There's a chance that this is going to drive a huge stake in your relationship and possibly kill it!"

"Eliza, really-"

"**No.** You go over to her and tell her exactly what you told me! I am not letting a relationship die on my watch!"

"All right, all right." Li Xiao turned around. "Really, you worry too much."

He turned back around and headed down the hallway. Elizabeta folded her arms and shook her head, leaning on the wall and staring at the lights that were beginning to get ready for the New Year bash. The sun was just about to set and everything was going to be the same as it is the year before…lonely and emotionless. Besides, she's seen a relationship crumble before. She didn't want the same thing to happen to people so much younger than her…

"He's right. You worry too much."

She turned her head and saw a rather confused Roderich walking toward her while holding what looked like a musical score. Elizabeta was about to say something when he walked into one of the rooms, leaving the door open a crack for the young woman to listen. She peeked through the area and saw the Austrian sit down at a piano and started to play something on the keys.

**/= "From Tomorrow On…" by Eternal Sonata =/**

Elizabeta just stood there, listening to this song, wondering where it came from. There was no way something this beautiful came from him _(maybe she was right or something)_…there was just no way that could be right…

"You don't have to be so shy, Eliza. We're friends, right?" His voice echoed out. "You can come in. No one is stopping you."

She did as she was told. He was right, of course. They were just friends and the like…well, more like exes on good terms with each other. Besides, when they were divorced Roderich didn't say anything about it. Then again, he didn't say anything when he divorced Antonio. Maybe he's not one to care about it.

"Sounds beautiful." She stated. "As always."

"Thank you." Roderich smiled. "It's pleasing to hear that when you're playing a song."

"I know. That's why I say it all the time. No one these days seem to like the old days."

"No one likes them…they're filled with conflict and destruction. Friendships and families are destroyed, twisted and thrown away as if nothing else mattered in the world…in that comparison, these years are the best years of our lives." Roderich turned his head up. "Where it is safe to become friends."

"Until the next conflict."

"…hopefully, that is all come to past."

She nodded as she sat down next to him, staring at the piano keys and reminiscing when they were married…back when she would do the exact same thing for the sake of just watching time past with this beautiful melody in her ears. She looked up and saw that Roderich was smiling back at her, playing purely from memory.

"You seem to like it."

"I do like it." Elizabeta chuckled. "I always have been, idiot."

"I figured as much." Roderich sighed. "Too bad, though…"

"Hm?"

"There isn't a song strong enough to symbolize just how much…"

His words drifted away as he started playing the song louder than before, making her notice that he was trying to hide something. She couldn't help but laugh as she saw Roderich playing slower and louder as if trying to pull this entire thing out.

"You do realize that if you want to kiss me, you're going to have to wait."

"…ulp." Roderich seemed to be blushing. "…um…how long?"

"Pfft." She laughed. "Until midnight, silly!"

"…oh."

The two of them shared a giggle, not knowing that Gilbert was watching just a few feet from the door. He sighed and headed down the hallway, shaking his head and looking down the entire time. He looked out the window and watched as the people started to create more fireworks for the midnight show.

"Well…it looks like I'm going to be alone again."

"_What? What about me?"_

"All by my lonesome self…without a single soul to support me."

"_Gilbert, I'm right here!"_

"It's sad…I've been lonely my entire life and here I thought that I would have someone to at least be with for one day of this pathetic life…"

He felt light arms reach over and squeeze his stomach like his life depended on it. Gilbert heard a light sob on his back before he started cackling of laughter and held his arms close to his own.

"Hey, I was just kidding! I knew you were there, Matthew~!"

"…_but Gilbert…really…"_

"It's fine, it's fine." Gilbert laughed. "Don't worry about it."

"_But…aren't you lonely?"_ Matthew leaned on his back. _"You always hang out with Roderich, but when he's doing something else you're always alone…"_

Gilbert said nothing.

"_Why can't you say anything, Gilbert? Please…you have to tell me…"_

They stood there in silence for a few long minutes before he wiggled out of his grip and squeezing the life out of the rather terrified Canadian. The young man looked and saw the smile on his face…the familiar one he always had, instead that there was a twinge of sadness in them.

"The awesomeness is never sad…but whenever you start crying…heck, I can't help but do the same." He wiped his cheeks, and Matthew noticed that he was crying too. "All right? So stop crying. I can't help it!"

"…_you can't just…tell me not to cry…"_

Matthew lunged back into his arms and started crying again, and for the first time Gilbert understood what Ludwig is going through…but he had to admit that Matthew did look cute crying.

**/=+=/**

"How am I not surprised that you're on the roof?"

"Oh, Li Xiao!" Charice stood up. "What, I was waiting for the fireworks!"

"You got a whole…" Li Xiao turned to his watch. "Damn, time moves fast…it's already a half-hour till midnight…"

"Yeah, I know!"

"OK…hey, are you really going to stay here until midnight?"

"Yeah. Kuya is going to spend the day with his friends. He said he'll be fine."

"And you agreed to it?"

"I spent half the day trying to convince him otherwise." Charice sighed. "And you are…?"

"What?"

"What are you doing on the roof?"

"I was looking for you. And I guess I was right." He laughed. "You always want a view of a show."

"Hah…you know me well." She laughed. "So what are you really doing here?"

"…Elizabeta forced me here. She thought that I should openly discuss with you about kissing at midnight."

"You're worried about stuff about that?"

"No. She was, apparently. She was the one who made me want to look for you." Li Xiao laughed. "I figured you were fine with whatever."

"I am, really." Charice laughed. "God, are you stalking me? You know me way too much!"

"I guess it's a bad habit."

Li Xiao sighed as he looked over the rooftop and saw the people gathering in the park below them waiting for the fireworks. From the side he could see Yao talking with Elizabeta, and he immediately remembered what she had told him just a few long hours ago in a quiet school hallway.

"Li Xiao?"

"…_women don't like it when their men reveal nothing in their minds…"_

"You all right?"

"…sigh." He leaned on the railing. "Have I ever told you how I started off as a Shadow Hunter?"

"Hah? Uh…you mentioned that you started off with Carlos." She stated. "He saved you from your Shadow."

"Actually…no, he didn't save me from my Shadow. He saved me from myself."

"Eh? Aren't they the same thing?"

Li Xiao sighed as he stood up from the railing and walked toward the other side of the roof, away from the prying eyes of the others down below. After a few minutes he turned around and faced Charice, holding his arms up and revealing the strange glyphs that he had obtained from that weird day with the robots. It was then that he relieved that he was holding a golden dragon dagger in his sleeves the entire time. Li Xiao smiled as he lifted the blade to the mark on his arm and then slashed it clean open.

Charice was about to scream when a bright light shone and she had to shield her eyes from it. When the lights finally faded away, she opened her eyes and saw that Li Xiao was gone. In his place was a strange figure standing a few feet above her head. It was a Shadowy dark purple with a mask on its face, spouting horns that seemed rather terrifying to look at. The weapon in its hand ultimately got her. She grabbed her wrist, hoping that her Persona will come out.

"_**Told you that they're not the same."**_

"…huh?" She paused. "…Li Xiao?"

"_**Yeah. That's me."**_

"…whoa."

"_**I'm Yao's Shadow…the demon hiding in his mind."**_ He stated. _**"Somehow, I was able to slip through the cracks between the world and went into this one. It didn't help that I was going to be under Arthur's control…it made me even worse. When Carlos found me, I had gained my own personality separate from what Yao enforced on me…and I lost control…"**_

"Lost…control…"

"_**I was about to be a demon loose on human soil. When he tamed me, he was supposed to kill me. Instead, he let me go. He said that I had become my own person with my own Shadow…to think, a Shadow with its own demons…"**_ The figure looked up. _**"Once I was freed, I was returned to him completely normal. I was no longer a Shadow, but what I was to the world was my mask."**_

"What they know is…?"

"_**I'm a Shadow. Are you scared now?"**_ He sighed. _**"I'm not surprised, and I will never be surprised. But I just don't want to lie to you."**_

Charice stared at him for a few minutes as they heard the countdown going on below them. Before his eyes, she walked forward and kissed what she assumed was his lips just as the final countdown was caught and the fireworks went off. They parted, and she saw that he had reverted to his human form, blushing all the while. He turned to the shadow on the wall, meeped a little, and hid behind Charice. She laughed.

"Are you afraid of the **dark?****"**

"_D-don't judge me, aru…"_

"A Shadow…afraid of the dark…huh…very ironic. Sounds like blackmail material~!"

"_**Oh hush."**_

"But it makes you cute~"

"Huh?"

"What, are you saying that you being a Persona is going to change anything? We're around crazier people! Ivan, Gilbert, hell even Arthur! I'd still take you, the demon with the human mask, over whatever the hell Arthur with wings is called!" She laughed. "Besides, are you killing people at night?"

"No! Of course not!"

"…then what am I scared of? Some demon who can't stand a shadowy room? Please, that makes you another Feli-chan!"

"…crap, am I going to be strangled this time?"

"No…just hugged~!" She chirped. _"Happy New Year's, dear~"_

"…all right…" Li Xiao smiled, hugging her. "Happy New Year's, honey…"

**/=+=/**

**Li Xiao's true form is that of ****Ongyo-Ki****, an oni who is a leader of four powerful demons and can eliminate his aura so that he can make sneak attacks on people. Weird, huh?**

**Sooooooo…who did I dissuade from this story? Well, there will be plot the next chapter!**

**But for those of you who know of the Persona series…**

**[Li Xiao : Teddie]**


	88. The Real Problem Begins

**And now there will be plot.**

**/= [DAY 106] =/**

The day back at school was not a fun one indeed. No one was happy…or sober enough. Seriously, when Charice entered her cooking class half her classmates were acting as if they shouldn't be trusted with anything past…well…no, not even that! What ended up happening was that she ended up having to make her red velvet cake with Ion, the Romanian guy. She would've chosen Yong Soo _(as always)_, but for some reason he's been fascinated by that Ecuadorian chick in his hangover rage.

"That isn't going to end well." Ion stated.

"No crap…or is it 'I figured'?" She turned to him.

"You don't have to sound that formal with me." He stated.

"Well, you look like you deserve a little bit of it." Charice stated, going to the fridge to get the ingredients. "I don't know you that well, you don't know me that well."

"We have met before, you know."

"But never really discussed anything past flying robots and the school musical." She pointed out. "Think about it."

"…true." He lifted out his hand. "Greetings. My name is Ion, of Romania."

"…pfft. You sound like a vampire."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"By itself? Yes. Compared to the Twilight sparkle-ravers? No." She laughed. "I'll take original any day."

"That's good to hear…I guess." Ion turned away a little confused, revealing one small fang on his teeth. Charice shivered. "Did you get everything?"

"Yes, I did." She answered with a wink. "So…what were we doing?"

"We're mixing the batter first."

She was about to do so when she realized that Ion was already in the middle of doing so. She looked up in confusion and saw that he was just about done…another strange vampiric trait she hadn't touched in on yet. She found herself staring for a few minutes before Ion realized that he was being stared at.

"You've cooked before, right?"

"Yeah…I just never saw anything hand stirred that ended up that smooth before."

"You can't do it?"

"I barely did it once…after stirring it for about an hour."

"Well, that's not going to work out…did you crush the chocolates?"

She was about to say no when she looked at the cutting board and realized that she had smushed all of them in jealousy of what he was doing with his awesome stirring skills. Charice turned back and pointed at them with a light giggle, somehow smelling something that seemed like the stove was on fire. Ion just nodded and pushed them into the batter.

"Are you drunk?"

"Hm?"

"Well…I've heard that you drink wine like Francis does, so…I figured that you'd be drunk or something."

"I did drink wine yesterday…Charice, am I right?"

"Yeah."

"Charice…however, unlike these people I usually drink wine alone and hence I do it before I get…um…the word is _'drunk',_ right?"

"That's the word."

"Yes…I rather get a good buzz. At least I can operate." He smiled. "Besides, who else is going to watch you over next to that brother of yours and your boyfriend?"

"Um…_**other**_ sane people?"

"Name one."

"…good point."

"I figured as much."

"Wait…how do you know about my boyfriend?"

"Please, I myself know that when a guy and girl get together in this school they're the talk of the world." Ion laughed. "Besides, you girls seem to have a fun time pairing all the guys together, don't you?"

"…yeah…but still!"

"You don't have to sound so confused about it." Ion popped the cake in the oven _(when was he already done with that?)_. "It's just natural with what's normal these days."

"Yeah…I guess I'm one of the lucky ones."

"Not really. Elizabeta got back with her ex-husband last night."

"Roderich? Really? Wow, that's so awesome!"

"Exactly." He sighed. "While I do think that she's a rather talkative bitch of a dog, I have to respect the fact that there is love there."

"…hah?"

"You'll understand our relationship later."

"…sure?" She turned away, noticing that the rather enticing pair of Gilbert and that Zaki kid almost setting their place on fire. "Why not?"

"Innocent…wasn't expecting something like that from an Asian nation."

"Really? Well, I think I'm the exception here…with Lin Yi, maybe?" Charice rubbed her chin. "I think I'm the only nation that was never raised by China directly."

"No?"

"No. I was raised by Spain…if what you call what he did to me parenting."

"Hm…most of the time you were raised by European nations…how interesting." Ion turned back to the oven. "I'm sure there was another nation just like you…"

"Australia?"

"Jason? He's his own continent."

"True…" Charice sighed. "Maybe me and my brother are the big exception to this…"

"I wouldn't be surprised, but don't be surprised if you're not." Ion stood up. "Are you going to take half the cake?"

"Hell yeah I am." She grinned. "My brother might like that cake."

"Red velvet? I thought he hated anything red."

"Carrying red, sure. It's wearing it that gives him shivers."

"Ah. Say no more."

**/=+=/**

"Kuyaaaa~! It's me, ate!"

She stayed in front of the door of his room, waiting for him to open up. Strangely enough, he didn't respond. She blinked before knocking again, noticing that the door was open. Confused, she snuck in and took a peek around the area. It was neat and clean, like Rizal hadn't been living in this room at all. If it hadn't been for the goggles on the counter, she would've thought that she was in the wrong room…an unoccupied one, at that.

_Huh…maybe he's out studying with someone._ "Kuyaaa~! You here?"

There was silence for a few minutes, so Charice decided to leave a note with his part of the cake and stick it in the fridge. There was some bit of food in there so she snuck it right next to what looked like his lunch and headed out of there with a smile on her face and a chuckle.

Rizal never came back.

**/= [DAY 107] =/**

"Hey, Doitsu-ki~!"

"Hm?" Ludwig looked up. "Charice?"

"Have you seen my brother around?" She sat next to him. "He wasn't in his room last night, so I figured that he was studying with you!"

"No, I haven't seen him since yesterday. He seemed perfectly fine." He answered.

Charice rubbed her chin for a few minutes as they sat quietly in the lounge to try to figure it out. After that, she turned her head back toward the German as he was reading something for his English class. She wondered why they needed a language class if they knew all the languages in the world.

"Hm…I'm worried about him…"

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure that there's nothing wrong and he'll check in on you later."

"All right." She stood up. "I have a class in five minutes, so I have to go."

"All right. See you later."

She never saw Ludwig that day.

**/= [DAY 108] =/**

"**Veeeee!** Fratello, _**fratello!"**_

"**Gah!** What the hell, Feliciano?"

"Have you seen Ludwig around? I haven't seen him since yesterday morning!"

"Why the hell are you so worried about it? He probably got called for a meeting back in his potato harvesting building. Don't worry about it."

"But Lovinooooo…he would've told me first…"

"Maybe he was extremely busy. Don't get your head tied in a freaking knot."

"…Lovino…"

"Really, just get to class. If I see the potato bastard, I'll make sure that I send him straight to you."

"…ve…thank you, fratello."

"Che."

That was the last time that Feliciano saw his brother.

**/= [DAY 109] =/**

"This isn't good…three people have just gone missing…"

The rest of the Persona users sat quietly in the newspaper room and looked at who was left. Antonio and Feliciano were drumming their fingers on the table as Kiku looked nervously at Charice as she stared out of the window, obviously worried about her brother. Alfred slammed his head.

"Dammit…out of all the times to strike, why in the world is this guy going after all of us now!" He stood up. "He's obviously getting all of them to finish the job!"

"That's only with Ludwig, you git! The murderer never targeted Lovino or Rizal." Arthur pointed out. "And there's no pattern to state that they had anything similar."

"What about them being Persona users?" Gilbert asked.

"Rizal doesn't have one." Charice stated. "Otherwise, he would've helped us."

"Maybe he does it behind the scenes…and we only see the ones that slip through him." Kiku looked up.

"OK, let's just leave that out for a minute." Li Xiao stated. "How about class schedules?"

"_I already checked…from their class schedules to their club meetings."_ Matthew laid out the paperwork in front of him. _"None of them match up…except for two classes between Rizal and Ludwig."_

"Maybe it's their statuses." Francis stated. "They are rather powerful nations."

"Which would mean that the murderer is taking out the big guys before the little ones." Alfred shook his head. "Of course! He's leaving who he wants for last! An excellent move for a bad guy to do!"

"Calm down, aru." Li Xiao looked up. "The whole school is on alert about this. Three nations have already vanished, so if anyone else goes everyone's going to know."

"_At this rate, hiding our statuses as Persona users is going to be almost impossible."_

"What's worse, we could be dubbed as suspects of this." Gilbert shook his head. "Though I think with some persuasion we can get Feliciano and Francis out of this. They haven't gotten into the other world."

"Ve~~~but I don't want to see all of you being falsely persecuted." He leaned on Charice for support. "You saved me from the real murderer…"

"Well, if that comes to pass and we all get persecuted…" Kiku turned to him. "Then you and Francis should be able to take our place."

"What about the other guys that were attached with that mark Arthur gave them?" Antonio lifted his head. "They should be able to summon Persona like what Francis showed us."

"They aren't going to accept such a strange notion so quickly! None of you accepted the fact that the supernatural existed!" Arthur pointed out. "If not you, then who else is going to get this?"

"Uh…_**me**_, da ze!"

They turned their heads and saw Yong Soo standing at the doorway as he held his arms up to reveal his marks on his arms and a card in his hand. He instantly crushed it and showed them a huge demon that was laughing and seemed to be a huge snow fairy. When it vanished Ion and Erika were behind him.

"You're not the only ones who experimented with this, da ze!" He folded his arms. "After the whole robot incident, me and Ion here found out that we could bring up whatever you guys called it…Personas, right?"

"…you were listening?" Charice blinked.

"Well, we came with the same explanations that you came up just now." Erika stated. "But there were Shadows leaking through after that day."

"_**Shadows?"**_ Antonio stood up. "Here? How come we've never seen them?"

"Relax. We've been cleaning up while you guys figured this out." Ion waved his hand. "Besides, this is a great way to warm up our Persona usage."

"…who else is in on this?" Kiku asked.

"There's the three of us, Roderich and Elizabeta is in class right now but they got in on this around the time we did…and basically everyone else affected. We just got Anri to control hers." Yong Soo laughed. "And I'm the leader, da ze!"

"Oh great…you?" Gilbert laughed.

"_**Don't mock me, da ze!"**_

"I'll mock you as much as I want to…da ze!"

The whole room erupted in huge conversation _(well, more like a compromise of who's staying in the real world and who's going into the Shadow jumping)_ as Charice found herself being led out of the room by Antonio. She was looking around in confusion before seeing the Spaniard smiling back at her.

"Are you all right, mi querida?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine…"

"No, it's not that. Your brother is missing…the first list of these recent victims." He stated. "I'm surprised that you haven't thrown a fit."

"…you haven't seen me the day Ludwig disappeared. I almost destroyed my entire room…" Charice rubbed the back of her head. "It was horrible…"

"Don't be worried. We'll find him and the others…please don't worry about them."

"...thanks, Antonio. I really mean it."

The next day, Charice mysteriously disappeared.

**/=+=/**

"**Zaki" is Malaysia. He's a guy here.**

**Yong Soo's Persona is "King Frost". He's of the ****Emperor**** descent.**


	89. All Pieces Have Fallen Together

**SHITE! THE MAIN CHARACTER HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED! NOW WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO?**

**/= [DAY 110] =/**

The minute they confirmed Charice missing, the whole group went insane. The survivors quickly assembled a meeting with Yong Soo and Erika while their group went around to look around the school without alerting too much attention. No one had to say anything about the tension in the room: Li Xiao was the embodiment of it.

"God, why Charice out of all people?" Alfred slammed the table. "That just breaks any type of connection that these people could have!"

"_The only thing that I can think of is that perhaps Rizal threatened the murderer and they took Charice as a hostage to him?"_

"That would mean that they would want something from Rizal." Arthur stated.

"But what would they want?" Erika asked. She seemed extremely anxious.

"I don't know…Rizal breaks the chain of just about every theory we have!" Arthur stood up. "This is bullshit! What is he going at here?"

"…there's probably not a pattern at all." Kiku stated. "Maybe this is a manhunt, picking off whoever he wants."

"So anyone's a target now." Yong Soo sighed, leaning back on his chair. "This is horrible, da ze. If anyone's a target, how are we going to know who he wants next?"

"Maybe he has a pattern now before going into the manhunt." Gilbert stated. "Get all the strong nations out of the way before he starts shooting up the building."

"That would mean that Rizal would have to be the biggest threat that the murderer has." Kiku stated. "How would that work, if he is not one of us?"

"…could it be that he doesn't know anything about the other world?" Feliciano asked. "That he's just killing them off without any knowledge of that other place."

"If that's true, then he would've found out already. All his victims are turning up alive; that would at least bring up some suspicion." Francis answered. "He would've found that world and at least used it somehow."

"Either that or stopped…" Feliciano looked down.

"That is a good point." Alfred stated. "He would've found out about the other world…and even then killing us would've been hard. We fall back on that place when we die."

"Yeah…" Kiku stated.

"I have a recommendation." Erika looked up. "What if, instead of trying to find the next victim of the line, we try to find out who the killer is now?"

"That'll take even longer. The threat here is _**now." **_Gilbert spat.

"Hear me out. Perhaps if we find out who the killer is, he'll lead you guys to where he's hiding them."

"That's a good idea…but we don't have time." Arthur stated. "We have to know who the next guy is so that we can corner him when he's in the middle of the attack."

"You can forget about that. He took his next victim already."

Everyone looked to the door to see Roderich and an extremely worried Elizabeta at the doorway. The Austrian propped up his glasses, glared at the Prussian for a few seconds, and then took a breath before sitting himself at the head of the table _(much to Yong Soo's displeasure)_.

"We've been asking around. Antonio Fernandez Carriedo hasn't been seen since last night."

"_**Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?"**_

Li Xiao paused.

"He got his next victim already? Crap! That means we have no chance of finding him today!" Alfred slammed the table. _**"Shit!"**_

"Ve~~~~! Wh-what are we going to do now?" Feliciano panicked. "M-maybe we should go with Erika's proposal and try to find out the murderer?"

"But there's no pattern to them!" Gilbert stated. "Where could a pattern possibly be?"

"There is one."

They turned to Li Xiao, whose eyes began to shine with enlightenment. The room sank into a rather deafening silence as the Chinese man looked at everyone, obviously trying to collect his thoughts for a good explanation to give the rest of them. He opted for standing at this point.

"Look at all the victims that he targeted this entire time. Here we were trying to find a pattern for all of the ones who had fallen in the other world, but not everyone is a victim here."

"Yeah. Most of us went in on our own terms." Alfred stated.

"That's not what I meant. Despite what we thought, there are only four victims, not six."

"Four?" Gilbert blinked.

"_W-which four?"_

"All we have to do is weed out the unimportant information in order to find the truth. And when we do, we get four victims in all." Li Xiao lifted up his fingers. "Kiku Honda…Arthur Kirkland…Gilbert Beillschmidt…and Feliciano Vargas."

"Just those four?" Alfred blinked.

"_B-but what about me?"_ Matthew stood up. _"And Ludwig, too!"_

"…I'm sorry, my head is racing and I kinda forgot your name…"

"_M-Matthew…"_

"Right, sorry. I think you weren't a victim to start with. In fact, I don't think you even saw the murderer with your own eyes." Li Xiao stated. "Carlos and I were Shadow Hunters before we entered this school, and there's a chance that when you were exposed to his dead body he awoke your ability to open portals to the other world. You falling into the Shadow's Realm can be ruled as just a poor possession of your abilities."

"_I-I see…Carlos…"_ Matthew sank back into his seat.

"As for Ludwig, we already stated that he was a decoy for us to handle while he took over his next victim: Feliciano." He pointed at the shivering Italian. "But what if he wasn't supposed to be a decoy at all?"

"Say what now?" Gilbert got off the wall.

"Not supposed to be a decoy?" Francis blinked.

"If he was supposed to be one, he would've been massacred as horribly as the rest of the four I just named. But he wasn't. While it looked that way, we've concluded that he was killed through a single slash through the throat. That is usually a merciful way of killing someone, as it shuts them up almost immediately." He stated. "Why would he want to change his killing methods?"

"Because he wanted to get to Feliciano as quickly as he could?" Alfred asked.

"If you ask me, he did that because he was expecting to meet up with Feliciano and ended up seeing Ludwig instead." Roderich leaned forward. "If you're taking a surprise attack into account, then that explanation isn't that far off."

"A surprise attack, right…" Li Xiao nodded. "So that rules out Ludwig for being a victim. That leaves the four that I named."

"We have to find out what's in common with those four." Elizabeta looked at the four of them. "Is there anything?"

"They're all men." Francis started.

"If it hadn't been for Kiku, they would've all been European nations." Alfred stated. "Hm…wait a minute."

"_W-what is it, brother?"_

"What if we're looking at the wrong similarities?" Alfred stated. "What if the only thing connecting these guys together is the murderer having a grudge on them?"

That snapped Li Xiao's mind together.

"Arthur."

"Y-yes?"

"That magic cult place of yours…" He looked up. "Does it have any type of Middle Age weaponry in there?"

"It adds to the horror of the place." He answered, folding his arms. "We have swords, axes, everything that the world used, we have-"

"…_**shit!"**_

They were about to say something when they saw Li Xiao slam the table and dash out of the door in a hurry.

**/=+=/**

"**Hey!** Slow down, Li Xiao! Rushing will not help you find Charice!"

"That's not what I'm rushing for! I got everything now!" He called back. "Now hurry up and tell me where your summoning rooms are!"

"They're on the other side of the school…" Arthur stomped after him. "What the hell are you going at here?"

"What Alfred said is right. These kidnappings, these murders…they're all just one big grudge waiting to explode! All four of them have ticked off the murderer in one way or another, and the kidnapping is just something to calm his nerves." Li Xiao stated. "He's not killing the kidnapped victims, at least not yet."

"What do you mean?" Roderich was having a hard time catching up.

"He's going to kill one of them, just to add to the victim murder list, and then make sure that we never find the body. He's going to throw him into the other world, body and soul." Li Xiao concluded. "Out of all the victims, who do you think is going to be the one most likely to die?"

"How are we supposed to know?" Gilbert stated. "If he holds a grudge against any of these guys, it's gotta be bruder! He killed him once and kidnapped him, right?"

"That's what I thought, but because he had a merciful death I ruled him out. Rizal can be ruled out too because he would usually handle an issue this big before it blew up into this." Li Xiao turned a corner and headed down stairs. "How many hallways?"

"About a few kilometers before we go to the basement- what are you going at here?"

"…I think I know who the killer is."

**/=+=/**

"You do? _**How**_, da ze?"

"Just shut up and let me talk! We have to take a look at the victims' back stories if you want to get it." Li Xiao ran down the hallway. "Japan, a powerful nation that was a military run government during World War II. England, a kingdom that had colonies all over the place stretching all over the globe. Prussia, another powerful kingdom with German ties and separated after World War II. Italy…well, your military history has nothing to do with this."

"Ve~?"

"The reason why I haven't figured out who the kidnapper was is because he made a mistake…a big one that ended up hampering us in the process." He pointed his finger up. "He never wanted to kidnap Lovino at all. That wasn't his plan."

"It wasn't?" Francis blinked.

"No. He wanted _**Feliciano**_ instead."

"M-me?" Feliciano shivered. "B-but why-?"

"He must've been rushing or something, but he ended up with your brother by accident. That's the only explanation I can come up with if he got Ludwig with him as well." Li Xiao found the staircase. "If we replace Lovino with Feliciano on the list, we see the grudge that spells this all out."

"What is that, then?" Kiku asked.

"…jealousy." Li Xiao looked around. "Is this the door, Arthur?"

"Yeah…seriously, what are you doing here?"

"The final victim he wanted to kill…he's in here. I'm sure of it."

The door swung open, revealing that the entire room was quiet and that there were some exorcist-like things around the area. A few of them seemed a little creeped out _(much to Arthur's displeasure)_, but they were forced to follow Li Xiao as he went to the center of the room and looked around.

"The murderer was looking toward this day all his life…he wanted this man dead no matter what…and he wanted him to suffer every minute of it…that's why he took it out of the people he was just a little mad at, just to test out different killing techniques." Li Xiao turned his head again. "But once he found out the one European machine that does that for him, he couldn't dishonor the pleasure of using it…"

"What are you talking about…?" Elizabeta asked.

"…don't you guys smell that at all?"

They all paused for a few minutes before they saw Li Xiao stomp toward another corridor in the creepy room until he found the armory, filled with all the weapons and magic items of the known world. He stormed through all of them before he stood in front of what he was looking for: an Iron Maiden. That's when they smelled it.

"Ack! I found it, da ze!" Yong Soo shivered.

"God, what reeks?" Alfred held his nose.

"The final victim."

Li Xiao finally found the level to unlock the machine and pried opened the door. Everyone screamed at that point as they saw a figure chained to the machine and his head strapped to the back. In his chest were huge gaping holes, dripping blood that had been extracted from the spikes in the Iron Maiden. The sounds of panic woke him up, and he looked weakly at the Chinese man that barely saved his life.

"…_Li Xiao."_

"Antonio."

"Ve~~~! Antonio!"

Feliciano quickly ran forward and unlocked all the ties as Gilbert caught the Spaniard in his arms. Erika dropped to her knees and lifted her hands as a pixie appeared behind her and desperately tried to heal all the wounds in his body. As that was going on, Antonio looked up at the man who found him.

"You saw the murderer, didn't you?"

"…_I can't believe it…I just…can't believe it."_

"Believe it. He's the one behind all of this." Li Xiao stated. "Did he escape?"

"…_he went into one of the portals."_ Antonio pointed at the portal in the middle of the room. "He said he was planning on throwing me in there…"

"So he's in the other world?" Alfred blinked.

"As well as all the other victims." Li Xiao shook his head. "Is everyone ready?"

"I have to come with…" Antonio stood up. "I…I have to find out why…why he'd do this…"

"But Antonio…"

"It's fine, Feliciano. Please don't worry about me."

"…ve…"

"We'll do the original group separation." Alfred swung his finger around. "Yong Soo, you and your guys make sure that nothing leaks out. We're going to go after the murderer."

"…all right, da ze."

"Please be careful." Roderich looked at all of them.

"…of course." Li Xiao stated. "Ready?"

"Ready." Kiku nodded.

"Ve…Li Xiao, who's the murderer?"

"…you know already."

They all went to the middle of the room as Matthew leaned into the portal and opened a large circle for everyone to go through. Li Xiao took a few breaths before taking the first jump in, and the others watched as they all jumped in with great haste. The last one to go in was Matthew, wondering who Li Xiao was pinning as the murderer.

**/=+=/**

**And here's a rather interesting note: Charice is not the protagonist. She is only a point of view between the actual two conflicts. Besides, a true Persona protagonist is rather emotionless, usually a male, and will almost always have a bittersweet if not extremely bitter ending.**

**Guess who the protagonist is?**


	90. World of the Yellow Queen

**Now we go into the really big meat of the story! Not the ending, of course, but it's a big part of it. Did you figure out who the murderer and the protagonist are? For those of you who haven't gotten the murderer, the background music of this world is going to be hidden from you ;D**

**/= ? =/**

When Li Xiao opened his eyes, he found himself wearing a nobleman's robe. He turned around and realized that everyone else was dressed like noblemen and lieutenants of war. The only two exceptions were Antonio and Arthur, who were both wearing their pirate outfits. They turned around and saw that the area that they landed in was filled with rich wildlife and no fog at all.

"W-what is this realm?" Alfred looked around, trying to straighten out the jacket he messed up. "Is this the murderer's?"

"If that's true, that means this place is more messed up than what it's trying to portray." Kiku stated. He didn't look like a nobleman, but more like a warrior. "But it feels…normal."

"That wouldn't be surprising." Antonio straightened out his hat. "If this world is what I think it is…"

"Whose world do you think it is?" Gilbert looked at him, adjusting his Tectonic Knights uniform.

He was about to say something when Li Xiao tensed up. They turned their heads to see a huge wave of soldiers swarming around them, spears in the air, and ready to counterattack. Matthew hid behind Gilbert _(if Charice was here…dear god)_ as a figure emerged from the crowd, making the Chinese man tense.

"Who do you think you are, trespassing on the queen's land without permission?"

"Trespassing on-?" Arthur turned to Antonio. "Whose world is this?"

"By the law set upon by the queen, you are all under arrest until pardoned otherwise!"

_Jose Rizal?_

**/= "Greede, the Capital of Freedom" by White Knight Chronicles =/**

The crowd was herded into the nearby castle, noticing that all of the nobles there were staring at them, some of them throwing strange glances and others creepy snickers. Feliciano had to whimper and grab Antonio's arm, the only one he could trust at this point. Everyone else had to watch all of these people as the soldiers marched them on.

"_What are these people?"_ Matthew whispered to the others. _"They can't all be Shadows, can they?"_

"_There's no way."_ Arthur looked around. _"None of them have the aura around them."_

"_But…so many of them look so familiar."_ Antonio blinked. _"W-wait…"_

"What?" Alfred blinked.

"…don't you see it?"

They all looked up before realizing it: many of the soldiers surrounding them were wearing Spanish armor with British insignias on them. The people around them seemed to wear noble Spanish attire, with the occasional British and Japanese robes. Nothing seemed to be in order…

"_V-veee…"_ Feliciano flinched. _"Why do they look like people from our world?"_

"…_because…"_

The soldiers stopped them in front of a door, revealing a long scratch that resembled a Nazi swastika. Li Xiao had to note that as the doors swung open, revealing a long corridor with servants and someone on the throne on the other side of the area. They walked forward, and they were able to see the person on the throne.

It was a woman dressed up in yellow, wearing a beautiful pearl necklace and cooling herself with a fan made out of pure gold. As they got closer, she was screaming at someone to get her desert from the kitchen while trying to keep professional in front of them. Nonetheless, the familiar voice got all their attentions and the minute they were able to see each other's faces…

"Hm? What are these people doing in my presence?"

"N-no…no way…" Feliciano whimpered.

Li Xiao couldn't bring himself to say the word, but after staring at her for so long, he had to say it. He couldn't deny hearing the name as it escaped his lips.

"_**Charice?"**_

**/=+=/**

"Hm? Jose! Jose, what did you bring them here for?"

He couldn't believe it. It was most definitely Charice standing in front of him. But something wasn't right. There was no way she was a victim of a kidnapping with the way she was acting. In fact, she was completely ruling the world inside her head!

"My most noble queen! We found them in the hidden quarters of the garden, and as such we brought them here upon your orders!"

"Please, they're most notably drunk off the wine!" She said with a snobby voice _(that made Li Xiao's ears bleed)_. "Look at their attire! They are most definitely of noble blood!"

"But my queen-"

"Look at them. Half of these men are obviously new to this kingdom! Give them a warning and let them go."

"…yes, my lady."

The soldiers immediately relaxed, leaving all of them alone. Li Xiao looked back up to the queen as she was staring at all of them with a blank stare. The minute they made eye contact, his eyes soften and he felt his heart pierce itself yet again, lame as that was.

"…queen…?"

"Yes, queen. I am Philia Mindanao, Queen of the Ever-Reaching World of Yellow!" She twirled around. "How strange, for my name must have reached you."

"I-It had, but…" Li Xiao looked at her. "You don't…remember me?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't remember every man I've talked to!" She laughed. "My goodness, it's like every man on this planet seems to want me for my looks…or is it my wealth?"

"P-Philia-"

"_Dude, back up for now."_ Gilbert whispered. _"The guys here are getting tense, and Feliciano's getting hives."_

"…_fine."_

**/=+=/**

They didn't bother finding the party home. Instead, the minute they got out of there _**they got out of there.**_ Antonio led the way as they marched down the marble pathway toward the entrance of the castle. There were two guards there, but they didn't seem bothered by a mess of men leaving the party. Feliciano didn't want to see their faces as they continued on.

"This place is getting crazy!" Alfred exclaimed as they were far enough. "Since when did Charice become a queen?"

"Since when was she such a _**bitch?"**_ Gilbert sighed. "Danke gott she decided to let us go."

"Ve~~~this is getting confusing..." Feliciano stepped forward before freezing up.

"_Eh? Feliciano?"_

Matthew's remark made everyone freeze and turn around, seeing the Italian shiver and scratch his arms rapidly. Kiku quickly ran to his side and lifted up his sleeves, revealing that the marks that he had from Arthur's spell was glowing a bright light, and the rest of his skin was red with scratches.

"You're hurting yourself, Feli."

"But…it's so itchy…" He whined. "I'm scared…"

"Guys. You might want to see this."

Everyone turned to Antonio as they saw themselves on a hilltop over a hidden area. They all dashed up to his side and saw a huge city covered in brown, nothing like the rich yellow wildlife around it. They could barely see the dirty people on the floor, begging others to give them food. They were the poorest of the poor.

**/= "Serenity" by Resident Evil 4 =/**

"_Oh my god…"_ Matthew blinked. _"This is…"_

"Do you think this is Charice's hidden self?" Arthur looked at Antonio. "The problems that she's running from?"

"It would make sense…concerning the fact that the rest of the area is beautiful." He answered, straightening his hat. "Li Xiao, your call."

"We're going down there." He folded his arms. "But with the robes we have now, we're not going to last."

"How about some type of illusion spell or something, Iggy?" Alfred grinned. "Those'll work now, right?"

"_**Don't call me that!**_ And…I guess I can try." Arthur sighed. "Everyone close your eyes. If the spell gets into them, your vision will be altered as well and I can't afford anything like that."

"V-ve…"

**/=+=/**

The illusion spell gave them the same dirty rags that the townspeople bore, and they felt comfortable entering that way. As they walked through the alleyways, they saw a lot of the people on the roads were women with little kids. Antonio turned his head and saw with shock that one of the boys was himself, and quickly walked away before the boy could get a good look at him.

"_V-ve…"_ Feliciano went behind Li Xiao. _"I just saw a boy that looked like me…"_

"_That's common among all the people here…I think Kiku and I are the only exceptions…"_

Throughout the streets, they could hear open arguments about the queen. Some were calling for her head, others were saying that she should be punished for the cruelty that she gave upon them. Li Xiao could only hold his head and shake it. Could Charice really do something like this?

"…you think this is where Cute-Obsession mode comes from?" Gilbert looked around. "Or is it from the other place?"

"I say…I have no idea." Alfred shrugged. "But whatever the cause is, that's the least of my worries."

"You're right. We have to find the other three kidnapped nations and try to save all of them." Kiku turned to Li Xiao. "But if they're anything like Charice, they're going to be embedded in this world."

"Yeah…changing them is going to be hard." Li Xiao turned his head. "Feli."

"Ve~?"

"Are your arms still itching?"

"N-no…they're glowing." Feliciano turned his head. "They're pointing toward the…shore?"

"There's an ocean here?" Arthur blinked. "Goodness, how big is Charice's world anyway?"

"Well, without any restrictions it should be limitless." Antonio held his head. "If we go into a ship and sail the ocean, we're only going to hit another section of Charice's mind."

"Ve…so we have to go on a ship?"

"_It's not like we have any other choice."_ Matthew answered. _"I have a strange feeling that this is all we're going to see of Charice's kingdom here."_

"Besides, I've been keeping a high ear on things." Gilbert winked. "I heard from a few nobles on the way out that the queen's going off to another kingdom."

"By ship?"

"By ship."

"That means…" Li Xiao turned to the ocean. "We need a ship. Let's go."

**/=+=/**

**Long chapter is long. Long enough, but heck.**

**Guess what the "?" song is?**


	91. Sailing

**So Charice's world is making everyone wonder what the other hostages are going like! What's going on this time?**

**/= "Ocean's Theme" by Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker =/**

The ship was huge, pushing past the open sea. Li Xiao stood at the front as the others tried to plan out what was going on. Everyone understood why he was a little depressed, but no one knew what to say about it. A few minutes passed by before he realized that Feliciano was standing behind him. The Chinese man stared at him.

"…Feliciano."

"…Li Xiao." The Italian walked next to him. "I'm…I'm scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

"W-what happened to Ludwig." He looked to the ocean. "Will he have forgotten about me like Charice did to you?"

"Most likely…and there's a chance that your brother forgot about you too."

"_V-ve…"_

"Hopefully, these aren't permanent and it's because of the murderer's handling of the situation." Li Xiao looked at him. "Besides, we're not the only ones suffering from this. What about Antonio? His Italian is gone, you know."

"…but…what if I…what if I never get him back? What if I lost him forever?"

"You're saying that like you've given up on him. You haven't even seen him yet."

"…"

"Don't make me hurt you on Charice's behalf."

"_**Veeeee! P-please don't!"**_

"All right, good. Cause only she can do that." Li Xiao chuckled. "But still, don't worry about it."

"Ve?"

"You were possessed by your Shadow when you were in your own world, and called for everyone's heads. And yet here you are, perfectly normal and worrying over your boyfriend." Li Xiao smiled. "I say that's a successful mission, don't you think?"

"…yes."

"It'll be the same with them. It'll be harder because there are more of them to handle, but that's fine. It's better late than never, right?"

"Yeah…" Feliciano smiled. "Thanks, Li Xiao."

That smile was the most innocent thing that he had ever seen in his life. Now he understood why people took quite a liking to him: he looked like he couldn't hurt a fly, and most importantly he probably can't _(not even if he had a hammer or something)_. If it hadn't been for the fact that they had the same gym class, he would doubt Feliciano ever being a man.

"Where are the others?"

"They're downstairs, talking to the crewmen. Arthur's wondering if we can learn anything from these people concerning that this is coming from Charice's mind."

"That's a good idea…but seeing as how normal this place is, I doubt we'll be able to get much."

"So…when are we going to find them?"

"I say on the other side of this ocean."

"Ve…"

After a few minutes, the ocean started to rumble. Feliciano clung onto Li Xiao as three Shadows erupted from the ocean, all dressed in jungle cameo and wielding guns and knives. He didn't have to react much before Li Xiao summoned his Persona and blew them all away.

"Feliciano, can you go below deck?"

"L-Li?"

"I need everyone else here, _**now.**_ I can't handle all of them on my own."

"Then…can I help?"

**/= "Phantom Linebeck Battle" by Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass =/**

Li Xiao watched as Feliciano pulled a stick from the end of the ship and ran back to his side before going ahead to whack the hell out all of them. What was surprising was how easy they were: one hit and he could take out a whole crowd. Was that how easy minded Charice was…?

"_**VEEEEEE!**_ These things are coming out of everwhere!"

"They're going to swarm…shit!" Li Xiao turned to Feliciano. "We have to go below the deck!"

"We can't! They're behind us too!"

"They're easy! Carve a path through!"

Feliciano was seriously trying to, but there were two Shadows where there was one before. Li Xiao knew what was going on: the Shadows were going to swarm the ship if they weren't going to stop. Before he could think of a plan he felt an energy surge coming from the back. He turned his head and saw _(with surprise)_ Feliciano as he back flipped over a few Shadows and landed right behind him.

"**Li Xiao."**

"…Feli?"

"**You can say that."** He looked back at the Shadows. **"I know how to get rid of them."**

"Really?"

"**But there's just one thing."**

"What?"

"**You have to run."**

"Can do. On your call."

Li Xiao dashed forward, digging through all the Shadows and finding a door to jump down into the deck. Immediately after the door closed, Feliciano held his heart and jumped into the air, summoning lightning that struck every single Shadow in the area. Li Xiao didn't have to say anything as he saw a lightning bolt crash onto the door, obviously after him. A few seconds later the lightning died out, and he dared himself to open the door. Instantly he saw Feliciano descend onto the ground before collapsing into his arms. He stirred and looked up.

**/= ""Ocean's Theme" by Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker" =/**

"…_Li Xiao?"_

"Feli."

"W-what happened?" He stood up, holding his shoulders for support. "I…I remember the Shadows, and…"

"Your Persona handled them."

"W-what?"

"I have no idea what the heck made you and Ludwig so interesting, but your Persona is just as unique as his." Li Xiao stated. "It took over your consciousness and made you a rather strong killing machine."

"V-ve…you're not hurt, right?"

"No, of course not. 'You' told me to duck."

"…did I get all of the Shadows?"

"…yeah." If Charice didn't count him as one, he wouldn't either. "I have to admit, though…you were pretty different when your Persona took over."

"I-I figured…"

"Yeah. If Charice saw you she'd be hiding behind you in fear or something-"

"_**Veeeeee! Would Charice be scared of me?"**_

"At first, maybe. Most likely, yes, but after a-"

"_**Noooooo**_ I don't want Charice to be scared."

He clung onto the Chinese man for support just as the other nations came up on the deck wondering just what the heck was going on. Li Xiao was about to tell them when they heard someone call from the deck. They looked up and saw as the ship pulled into a harbor, filled with many fancy buildings that looked like something from Venice.

"Is this…?"

"Yeah. Chances are we're going to find someone here."

**/=+=/**

**Jupiter**** is the Roman form of the Greek god Zeus, king of the gods. He's best known for being the lightning bearer, being married to Hera, and bearing a lot of children. He was also a bit of a player, which Hera didn't seem to like. Gee, I wonder why? [Feliciano Vargas - Star]**

**REVIEW! **

…**please?**

**I'll make Italy do an innocent face if you do!**


	92. Realizations

***Italy's Innocent Face***

…

…

…

…

…

**We will now return to the story.**

**/= ? =/**

The city was so much different compared to the old run down area that could barely qualify for being a town. Arthur opted that it was safe to walk around in their given attire, and for the most part they were right. Many of them looked like noble people, wandering around with people that, while poor, still seemed content.

"I'd much rather live here." Alfred pointed out.

"_It has a different air about it…"_ Matthew looked around. _"More…open?"_

"Strange…it's like this isn't even part of Charice's world." Kiku looked at Li Xiao. "Do you sense it?"

"Yeah…something else other than Shadows…" Li Xiao blinked. "This makes it…weird."

The crowd continued to move along, surprised that the place seemed more normal than the last place they were in. Li Xiao couldn't help but wonder if they were going away from Charice's psyche. After a few minutes he felt Feliciano's fingers tighten around his arm, and he turned his head around to see that a figure was rapidly approaching them. As it was getting closer, his face was clear to everyone.

"_**Lovino?"**_

"_**VEEEE!"**_

The figure grabbed him, making the Italian panic. After a few minutes of hard staring, the man sighed and stepped away from him. Li Xiao could now clearly see that it was Ludwig, wearing noble green attire and a green and gold bracer around his neck. He looked more like an empire than a republic, making Feliciano blush and turn away.

"I-I'm sorry…I thought you were someone that I know."

"O-oh…that's all right…" Feliciano looked up. "Y-you're…"

"M-my name is Ludwig, leader of the Green Soldiers." He stated, oblivious to his shaking. "And you are…?"

"_Y-you…you don't know…?"_

"Hm?"

"N-nothing…my name is Feliciano."

"You…sound like Lovino."

"…r-right…"

"I-I'm sorry, the Green Soldiers?" Alfred jumped in front of Feliciano. "Is that some kind of country or something that I don't know?"

"No. How far away is your land? The Green Soldiers are the national army of this land." Ludwig said with a perfectly straight face. Gilbert had to chuckle. "I'm the lieutenant commander of that army and the valet of the prince Lovino."

"…prince…?" Antonio was surprised.

"Oi! You really know how to get lost around here, don't you…freaking bastard?"

They all turned their heads to see Lovino walking toward them, wearing a bright blue outfit rather deserving for a prince. Ludwig could only shake his head and ruffle the other's hair, making Feliciano whimper and hide behind Alfred. Antonio looked like he was getting openly sick.

"You don't have to worry about me, my prince. I know around this city."

"Yeah, well…you were late. We have to meet the queen later for a treaty, remember?"

"Right, right." Ludwig smiled. "Sorry."

He then proceeded to graze his lips around Lovino's forehead, making the whole crowd get a little sick. Antonio was vomiting over the side while Feliciano buried his face in Alfred's jacket. Only Kiku was able to keep his head together for a few minutes in order to raise his voice.

"The queen?"

"Yes. The queen of a kingdom far away. Having an alliance helps all of us in the long run." Lovino stated.

"I am aware of that. I am a prince of a far away kingdom and I know well about alliances." Kiku commented, sounding extremely calm.

"I see. Perhaps we should make an alliance one of these days."

"I will take that statement into consideration."

"Good. I hope you enjoy your stay in my kingdom." Lovino smiled. "And if you shall excuse us, we have a meeting to go to."

"Another time, then."

The two of them turned and walked away in grace, leaving a trail that made the whole group stare at each other in confusion. Antonio had just finished vomiting and cleared his mouth just as Feliciano finally openly wept on the American's back. Gilbert and Li Xiao couldn't help but worry about him.

"_Um…s-should we go follow them?"_

"…yeah, Mattie's right." Alfred stated. "Let's go."

**/=+=/**

The group followed what direction they could possibly remember as they headed deeper into the city. The people around them started getting extremely familiar in appearance, some of them even turning into the TV characters she would enjoy watching. Matthew was leading the way, allowing Kumajiro to sniff them out. For some reason, the bear was actually willing to go along with this. After a few minutes of walking around aimlessly, they finally found themselves in front of a rather interesting building. Alfred blinked and fixed his glasses.

"Dude, that's the American Embassy in the Philippines!" He stared up. "Down to the cracks in the doorway!"

"The…embassy?" Gilbert looked up.

"It's definitely that. I've seen this before." Antonio blinked. "Charice invited me here."

Li Xiao noticed with surprise that the gate was unlocked, and opened the door to let themselves in. He walked forward as he noticed Ludwig and Lovino talking to a familiar face as they went inside the building. Before the figure walked in, they made eye contact, making everyone flinch. Five seconds later, a huge Shadow appeared in front of them.

"_**Gah!"**_ Gilbert jumped back. "Shadows? **NOW?"**

"_Forget that! We have to get him out of the way!"_

**/= "" =/**

This Shadow consisted of a being wearing the American flag and eating everything in its path. Arthur's spells weren't even throwing a dent in it, and when Feliciano tried to attack he got knocked out of the way. The only person that seemed to actually get anything out of him was Alfred. He was grinning the entire time.

"Hey guys! Check this out!"

Alfred laughed as he jumped into the air, summoning his Southern brother as the both of them started shooting at the Shadow with grins on their faces. After a few seconds, they both looked at each other.

"Ready, bro?"

"_**Ready as ever, partner."**_

They both lifted their hands as they revealed that they each had their own Persona cards, their symbols glowing on their arms. Alfred summoned what looked like a white Shikigami, while Jackson summoned a huge golden dragon. Li Xiao stared in confusion as they both tore through the Shadow with ease.

_He's a…?_

"Alfred!" Arthur stood up. "You're a Wild Card?"

"Eh? I am?" He looked at Jackson before laughing. "Holy crap, I am!"

"Fantastic." Kiku sighed. "But whatever, we have to get into that building-"

"Veee! Guys, the door's locked!"

Everyone turned their head to see that Feliciano was already at the door, unable to open it. Li Xiao was about to question it when he suddenly realized that Antonio was looking away from them, staring at the city with the most fascinated look on his face. He quietly walked to his side when he noticed it as well.

"Guys. You might want to get over here."

The crowd awkwardly followed him, and gasped at what they saw as well.

"Wait a minute…" Antonio turned his head.

"_**How is it suddenly nightfall?"**_ Gilbert screamed. "It was early morning when we got here! Did we really take that long?"

"I don't think it's that…someone's manipulating this entire world. They want something to happen." Arthur turned his head. "But this realm…this realm looks so familiar…"

"…oh my god."

Everyone turned their heads to a terrified Kiku. He looked at Li Xiao.

"Please, listen to me. I have an idea what's going on."

"You do?" Alfred blinked.

"What's going on?" Feliciano whimpered.

"We have no time to waste. We have to find Ludwig _**now!"**_

**/= Replace all "?" with "Servant of Evil –classical version- Instrumental" =/**

**But you probably already knew that.**


	93. Save Him!

**/= "Servant of Evil [Instrumental]" =/**

Matthew had to lead the way again. For some reason, Kiku was in a panic and it was leading them through a forest filled with Shadows. Of course most of them were easy peasy stuff but they ended up getting tired in a few hour's time. Arthur had to slow down for a minute and shake his head.

"What is _**wrong**_ with you, Kiku?" He exhaled. "You have enough time to panic!"

"No, you must please hear me out!" Kiku finally stopped. "This world, this realm…I didn't take too much into consideration, but this is Charice's realm."

"Yeah, we know that already." Alfred blinked.

"It's not just that…I am aware of the fact that Charice likes my form of animation…I just think that…_**this**_ realm is a product of _**my **_creation."

"…say what now?" Gilbert rubbed the back of his head. "You got me lost back there."

"All right then…you see, everyone's likes and dislikes shape a person's 'world', as we see here. Charice likes my animation, and hence her world here, right now, is a realm based off a realm of my people's creation." Kiku stated. "And I just remembered what this realm's story is."

"This realm has a _**story?**_ Like…something we can follow?" Antonio asked.

"Yes! But please, we have no time! We must get to the city before the next role is fulfilled!"

"Ve~? W-what role?"

"…the one where Ludwig dies."

The whole group tensed before getting their energy back and zooming through. Matthew and Kumajiro were turning their heads, trying desperately to find anything that might get them a lead; the others were stuck wondering just what was going to happen. After a few seconds, Matthew turned his head.

"_T-that way!"_

"All right, let's go!" Alfred grinned. **"LEERRRROOOOYYYYYY-!"**

"_**JENKEEEEENNNSSS!"**_

"Alfred, will you-?" Arthur sighed. _"Great, now both him and Gilbert ran off…"_

"Both of them seem to like Internet memes, huh?"

"_Shut up, Antonio."_

The entire time, Li Xiao was looking at Kiku and Feliciano the entire time. The word that his boyfriend might die in this realm all over again got the Italian worried _(no doubt about that)_, but the fact that Kiku seemed to know everything going on here…he turned to him mid-dash.

"Kiku."

"Hai?"

"Why is Ludwig being killed?"

"…the queen of yellow falls in love with the prince of blue, but he is engaged to the woman in green." He began.

"_Prince of blue and woman in green…"_ Feliciano's curl bobbed slightly. _"Was I…?"_

"You were most definitely supposed to be the prince of blue." Li Xiao stated. "That I'm sure of."

"Yes, it would make the story have more sense into it…" Kiku looked around before continuing. "You see, the blue prince and green woman were deeply in love, driving the yellow queen to jealousy. After that, she commands her servant to murder the green woman so that she could be with the blue prince."

"W-w-wait…" Feliciano's eyes watered. "C-Charice…w-wants to murder Ludwig…to be with mi fratello…?"

"In this world, that's most likely the case." Li Xiao looked up. "But it can't be true in the real world."

"W-why's that?"

"Because…" Li Xiao had to say this. "She has me."

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"W-what are you…?"

"_This is…this isn't supposed to be happening…"_

"G-**gah!"**

"_This wasn't the plan at all…none of this was supposed to happen!"_

"_**Y-you…?"**_

"_But…this is what she wanted…I…I'm here because of…!"_

"_**C-can't…**__b-breathe…"_

"_I'm…I'm sorry this has to end like this. In another life, you probably would've never learned the truth…or at least, in my hopes…talked about it over a cup of Einspänner…"_

"…_you…"_

"_I'm…I'm sorry…but your judgment has come…__**you will pay for what you did to my sister."**_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

An explosion caught all of their attention. They turned their heads to see that one of the buildings that just towered over the trees had caught on fire, and there were screams echoing throughout the area. Gilbert hid behind the trees and noticed how there were the same soldiers swarming the area with their yellow swords.

"Hey…t-that prophecy of yours is starting!" He panicked.

"We must find Ludwig immediately!"

**/= "Coup de Grace" by Tales of Destiny =/**

There were flames all over the place, taking down everyone in sight. What traumatized Antonio was that all the people here were Filipino, his fear clearly showing on his face. Gilbert had to grab his hand just to drag him through the wreckage. Soldiers were attacking them, one plot in mind, but they were no match to their Personas. They vanished like Shadows.

"_I can feel him…"_ Matthew pointed upwards. _"In that building!"_

"Shit! He's probably on like the highest level or something!" Alfred spat. "All right, who has an idea?"

"All I know is that I have to get up there." Li Xiao stated. "I'm the only one who can stop it."

"How do _**you**_ know?" Gilbert spat.

"I just do, all right? I'll explain once we get Ludwig out." He looked up. "Can we climb the stairs?"

"No. That's going to take too long." Arthur looked at Li Xiao. "I do, however, have an alternative route."

**/=+=/**

"Since when did you have _**wings?"**_

"It's a long story, all right? I don't use them often, and I sure as hell don't use them as carriers! So stop squirming!"

Li Xiao decided to do just that as Arthur's wings carried him up onto the top floor, just as a window blew out. The two of them jumped into the hallway, covered with smoke and flames, but nothing that Arthur's magic could handle. Just as they were about to run forward they heard a gust of wind coming from behind them. They darted their heads around to see that Feliciano had just jumped the entire length of the way in front of them, his eyes glowing a strange god-like color.

"Geez, you couldn't bring anyone else with you?" Arthur asked.

"_**We don't have time!"**_ The god colors faded. "We have to get to Ludwig!"

"Right, right." Li Xiao sighed, leaving Arthur confused. "Let's go!"

The three of them dashed through the big halls just as they heard a grunt of pain. Li Xiao kicked the door open just to reveal a huge black mechanical Shadow holding Ludwig into the air. Feliciano screamed and launched a thousand lightning bolts at him, making the Shadow dodge and allowing him to get to Ludwig.

"_**Shit…this isn't supposed to be happening."**_

"Believe it." Li Xiao walked forward, dragon knife in hand. "That's what a Shadow gets when he tries to manipulate the mind of his owner! No matter how hard he tries, he cannot change reality."

"Li Xiao…"

"Arthur. Get Feliciano and Ludwig out of here. I'll handle him."

"Are you _**crazy?"**_

"If I can't defeat him, I'll at least expose him." Li Xiao stated. "Now go!"

Arthur paused but did as he was told, leading the other two as far as he could before levitating them to safe ground. Li Xiao watched them before turning back to the mech Shadow that was looming in front of him, robotic blade in his hand.

"So that's why this is happening. You're doing this because she doesn't…what she denies, you feel…" Li Xiao nodded, holding his blade to his forearm. "The only way to let it go is to let it out."

The Shadow charged.

"So this is why you did all this…isn't that right…_**Rizal?"**_

**/=+=/**

The whole building collapsed as the others fled the city with barely their lives. Kiku turned his head and saw as the whole city continued to crumble, screams echoing by the people trying to flee the blades of the soldiers left behind. His breath was ragged; his mind panicked.

"W-where's Li Xiao?"

The roof the building exploded, revealing a bright white light shooting across the sea. Another bright light shot right in front of them, revealing a rather strange looking Shadow. Everyone tensed as the light faded, revealing that the Shadow was taking on another form…that of Li Xiao. Antonio came forward.

"You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. The Shadow was powerful…and it definitely confirmed some suspicions that I had." He stretched out his arms, oblivious to the people wondering just what the heck happened. "He's heading back to Charice, that's all I know."

"So the Shadow we saw was the yellow servant that Kiku talked about…" Arthur rubbed his chin. "We have to go back there, right?"

"Yeah." Li Xiao stated. "We may have averted a huge changing point in the ultimate plan of things, but for the most part we have worse things to worry about. First of all, there's a chance that Shadow's going to be after us."

"_T-then why does going back have anything to do with averting the Shadow?"_

"We're not averting it." Gilbert realized. "We're confronting it."

"Just like any other Shadow." Li sighed. "But be warned: he has a mind of its own."

Everyone was about to say something when they heard Feliciano whimper in shock. They turned their heads to see that Ludwig was regaining consciousness, seeing everyone and sitting up in a panic like normal people would at this time.

"W-what's going on?" He turned his head. "What was that just now?"

"L-Ludwig!" Feliciano leaned forward. "Are you OK? Does anything hurt?"

"Eh? You are…Feliciano?"

"…_yes."_ The Italian looked down. _"That's me…"_

"You're confused." Antonio chuckled, somehow getting what was going on.

"That thing…_**whatever that thing**_ was…he was trying to kill me! What was he after?"

"You." Kiku looked down. "He was after you."

"M-me?"

"Just you, man. We'll talk later, but really we have bigger things to do." Alfred turned around. "Such as getting a freaking boat back!"

**/=+=/**

**Obvious plot is obvious.**


	94. Filler that Opens the Cracks

**/= "Servant of Evil –classic- Instrumental" =/**

Feliciano had to stay on the deck. It was too hard. The others were in charge of telling the changed Ludwig everything, and Li Xiao dismissed him away because he knew just how much this is going to hurt him. And he was right. Just _**thinking**_ about all this was hurting him. What if Ludwig never remembered him? What if he believes that Lovino was the man he loved? How would Antonio react…?

_T-then again…he remembered me when he was Holy Rome._ He thought. _He'll…he'll remember me…d-don't worry about it, Feli…_

"Who's there?"

He jumped in shock and turned around, seeing the man he was just thinking about walking up onto the deck and staring back at him with a face that was filled with confusion. He was definitely trying to sort out what he had been told. Then again, if he was told that the world he was living in was a lie, he'd be confused too.

"O-oh…Ludwig." Feliciano smiled. "Are you all right?"

"I've been told that everything I've been living in my entire life had been a lie." He answered. "How am I supposed to react?"

"…that's true." He turned to Ludwig. "Do you…remember anything about your past?"

"I only know the past that I have lived through. What your friends have been saying did not ring any type of bell to me."

"…oh. Well then…" Feliciano tilted his head. "What is your past?"

"Hm? Why are you so curious?"

"I'm just wondering, that's all. If you believe what you believe so much, then perhaps you can tell me."

"…all right. It might not appeal to you if you're associated with what you believe."

"Yeah…but I just want to know."

"I-if you say so. I was born in the Katherzig line, destined to be leader of the Green Soldiers. While I was in training, my father sent me to the Blue Kingdom so that the King can knight me. While there, I met this young girl-"

Feliciano froze.

"I fell in love with her at first sight. She loved me back, but then I was separated from her once my training was over. Many years I trained so that I could take my place and be with her again…and when I was able to come back, I realized that that girl was…actually a man."

He couldn't help but giggle. _Maybe he remembers…?_

"It was strange…how could the young girl that I loved turn out to be the heir of the kingdom? Hell, when we first met he didn't like the _**sight**_ of me…but after a while…he remembered me…he knew who I was…and as such he wants me to be the next king of the land…"

He froze again.

"I will always love Lovino. There is no way around it, it's like…destiny, for us to be together again. I thank you and your friends deeply for saving my life…and perhaps now I can help him save more people from being hurt from the evil queen's reign-"

"No…no, this is all _**wrong!**_** This wasn't supposed to happen like this!"**

Ludwig paused as he saw Feliciano turn away and sob quietly to himself, confused on what's going on. He took a deep breath.

"I told you of my past…now tell me yours." His voice was stern. "It's only fair for me to know."

"…_*hic*…you already said it out loud."_

"Hm?"

"_I…my friends and I…we come from another world, like what you've been told…"_ Feliciano didn't dare turn around to look at him. _"In that world, your past was the same. You were a boy who fell in love with a girl but had to go away because the world wanted him to…but the girl was different…"_

"The girl was…"

"I-**it was me!"** Feliciano shivered. "I was the girl! I was the one you fell in love with!"

There was silence.

"You had to go to war…to protect me…and you told me that you were going to come back but you never did. And I waited…I waited for so long until I gave up…and then you told me that you were there all along…"

"…are you sure that you haven't just been mad with grief?"

"…Lud…?"

"You told me that the man you were waiting for never returned, didn't you? Doesn't that mean that he's dead?"

_W-why…?_

"If that's true, then that means that all you have to do is accept that he's dead and move on. Don't try to hang onto the belief that he's alive and think that he's me."

_Why does he sound like Big Brother France did when he told me…?_

"The man you fell in love with died in a war. War is covered with death. How come you have this belief that this man is me? Because I look just like him?"

_Because…because you ARE him…_

"You're not a man. You're just a dog, clinging onto the corpse of its dead master like his life depended on it!"

_I can't…I can't be mad at him…_

"I will always love Lovino. He is the only one that can have me."

_H-he's loyal to the one he loves dearly…_

"And nothing is going to break that. Not even your broken words of sympathy."

_No matter how sad they are, he'll always be there for them…_

"You don't have to cry for me. Cry for yourself, for you can't even call yourself a man in the pathetic state that you're in."

_Fighting the enemy away with words as cold as daggers…_

"Stand up and heal those wounds, why don't you? Most people think it's cute, but I just think it's repulsive."

_While healing the wounds they've inflicted with words only angels can say…_

"Only then will you be able to talk to me again. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go downstairs and try to get some sense out of your psycho friends. Don't bother to find me."

_That's what I love about him…_

Ludwig could only scoff as he headed downstairs, leaving the Italian crying about the love he lost forever and watch as the ship finally pulled into the harbor.

**/=+=/**

**Hey, to all you Germano fangirls out there. I hope you're happy. You made Feliciano cry. YOU MADE FELI-CHAN CRY. Here I was trying to make you girls happy and ended up stabbing the hearts of half the fanbase. **_**I HOPE YOU'RE PROUD OF YOURSELVES.**_

…

…

…

**You are, aren't you?**


	95. What We're Planning Now

**/= "Servant of Evil –classical- Instrmental" =/**

As the ship pulled into the harbor, everyone exited the boat. Li Xiao turned to Feliciano and realized that he was wiping tears away from his eyes as he was wrapping bandages around his forehead and wrists. He looked confused as he approached him quietly without alerting the others.

"_What happened to you?"_

"_V-ve!"_ He turned his head before calming down. _"I…I was attacked by Shadows."_

"_Atta- and you didn't say anything or called for help? How many were there?"_

"_A-a lot…but I got rid of all of them."_

"Geez…do you need Arthur?"

"_N-no, I'm fine…"_

Li Xiao steadied the Italian as the small group headed deep into the city. Despite how Kiku know how the story went, nothing was happening at all. There weren't any uprisings or even people openly complaining on the streets. As Kiku moved everyone behind a few buildings, he noticed that there was no increased security.

"What's going on?" Gilbert blinked.

"Nothing's happening…"

"…well, isn't that a good thing?" Alfred shrugged. "Nothing means that we can take at least a five minute break."

"We can't just take a break." Ludwig spat. "That wretched woman tried to kill me! She has to pay!"

"That's it. We were supposed to come back in the middle of an uprising." Kiku rubbed his chin. "It was as if stopping Ludwig's death stopped the entire story from playing out."

"Doesn't that mean we saved Charice?" Arthur blinked. "From what I can tell from here, she's supposed to die at the end of this story."

"Yes, but…" Kiku froze. "Now I know."

"Know what?" Antonio leaned forward. "Talk to us."

"_The Knight in Red…there was no Knight in Red…"_

"_Knight…in Red?"_ Matthew blinked.

"The story says that an army overthrows the queen's reign with two leaders: the Blue Prince and the Red Knight. We have one Blue Prince, but no knight." Kiku lifted up his fingers. "And as a result, the story can't progress."

"So…who was supposed to be that guy?" Alfred looked around. "Anyone?"

"You're an idiot." Arthur smacked his head. "Antonio was supposed to be him."

"…huh?" Antonio froze. "Me?"

"And _**you're**_ an idiot as well." Arthur shook his head, before proceeding to hit his head as well. "Yes, you. You're supposed to be the Red Knight."

"If what we are seeing is true, then all of the people that were supposed to be the players of this story would have to be the kidnapped victims." Kiku stated. "And since you were kidnapped as well, you would have to be a player in this game as well."

"Then…why did the murderer throw Antonio into an Iron Maiden before putting him in the world?" Gilbert pointed at him.

"…because he didn't want the story at all…he wanted the setting."

Everyone turned to Li Xiao as he looked up.

"I thought you guys knew this already. Rizal's the murderer."

"_**WHAT?"**_ Alfred jumped. "I mean…it crossed my mind, but…it's true?"

"Rizal? The man that I was talking to before he tried to kill me?"

"Yeah, that guy. He wanted this landscape because it was perfect for Charice: she's the queen and he serves to her every need. The only problem is that for this setting to work is that they needed other people in here; people that are going to make the place more realistic. That's why he resorted to kidnapping." Li Xiao pointed at Antonio. "You were chosen as a target because you were a perfect Red Knight, but then again a _dead_ Red Knight would still count as one."

"So…I'm supposed to…lead the revolution to Charice's kingdom?"

"Of course." Kiku nodded. "No version of the story mentions when you two meet, only that you meet him instead."

"I see…I guess we should meet him then."

"No. Only you."

"Eh?"

"You're the Red Knight. Only he will be meeting the Blue Prince, and he will be the only one that will move the story along." Kiku stated. "But knowing you, you'll find Lovino where you want to find him."

"…what are the rest of you guys going to do?"

"_We…might be a part of the army, so that we can take a check with you."_ Matthew stated, holding Kumajiro. _"That way, we can be in the castle."_

"What about me?" Ludwig stepped forward. "I'm a warrior. I should be able to be a part of this army as well."

"I'm sure you would, Ludwig sir. The only problem is that your part of the story is over." Kiku pointed out. "Lovino is using your death as his motivation. If you come in now, he'll lose it and the story won't continue."

"…that means…"

"For the rest of this day, you'll be on the sidelines, man." Alfred grinned. "But once the war's over, you can come back all _**flashy**_ and stuff!"

That statement made Feliciano cringe.

"I guess I'll stay in the city until I hear news of the raid." Ludwig sighed. "Strange, though…that I'm not doing anything useful."

"I say that someone stays with him." Alfred pointed at him. "If Rizal's coming after him again, we might as well get someone to cover him before he remembers how to fight him."

"I know how to fight." Ludwig spat.

"I mean fight Rizal." Alfred turned to him. "Normal fighting means aren't going to work on him."

"I'll stay with him." Gilbert pat his back. "I think I'm better suited to do so."

"_I'll do so too."_ Matthew stated. _"You should as well, Alfred."_

"Yeah, I'm on it. As long as Iggy-chan gets to come with."

"_**THE NAME IS **__**ARTHUR**__**, you bloody git!"**_

"Sure, sure…I might've gotten Charice's mannerisms."

"…you're a bastard."

"I don't need this many people, you know." Ludwig stated.

"If you know _**anything**_ about Rizal, having four of us is actually less than needed to beat him." Gilbert pointed his finger at him. "Besides, we need the rest of these guys to get in the army."

"…I guess so…" He sighed. "If anything, I want to see that woman's head bleeding with a face begging for mercy…"

That statement scared the world, so they decided to go their separate ways on that note. As Ludwig passed Feliciano, he saw the Italian pathetically working on replacing his bandages that were still covering open wounds. He scoffed.

"Pathetic."

He left them all, leaving those that were behind staring at Feliciano as he barely finished the final wrap. Odd enough, he didn't seem like he was going to cry. On that note, Kiku turned back to Antonio.

"So then…where do you think Lovino will be at?"

"…I have…one place…"

**/=+=/**

Lovino sat quietly at the pub table, staring at the map in front of him. News had just reached him that the love of his life had died by the queen's hand, and he knew he had to take action now. There were more than enough people that will rally to his call if he asked for it, but he just needed someone who can organize an army…for _he_ was usually the one who did this…

"Are you having problems there?"

He looked up and saw a young man standing just above him. He was wearing a strange red outfit and had a huge axe strapped to his back. Despite his intimidating appearance, his sun-kissed skin and curly brown hair seemed to make him innocent…and his emerald eyes reminded him of…

"…yes…do you know of the queen that rules this land?"

"I know her well. She had recently devastated most of my trade ships because she assumed we were spies." The man sat down. "I have thought of trying to bring my hand up against her, but I have no idea where to start."

"Well, I'm planning on overtaking her as well." Lovino leaned forward. "That bitch killed the one I loved."

"…is that so." His voice sounded pained. "How so, if I may asked?"

"…killed him in cold blood…out of nowhere…just for the sake of having my hand in marriage!" He spat. "Is that how love is supposed to be? Forced and out of nowhere, when no one wants it?"

"No…no it is not. Love is a beautiful thing, fragile like a blooming rose." The man's voice was calming down. "You don't know what would damage it."

"But that queen…took the corpse of that flower…and burned it into ash…like it meant nothing…like his life meant nothing to anyone at all!"

"…this man…must've meant so much to you."

"He did…he meant the world to me." Lovino looked down. "He protected me from the beginning, he wanted nothing more than my well-being, and clung onto me like a fucking magnet. And yet…somehow I fell in love with him."

"…I…see…"

"You couldn't ask for a better man…he was serious, but caring at the same time. He's scary when mad, but he's never mad with me. He never wants to hurt me, and would rather die than see me bleeding out or some shit like that."

"…"

Lovino looked up and realized that the hurt look had returned to the man's face. What caught his attention was that the emotion had looked like it was the usual part of his face: like the mask was off his face. And he couldn't help but feel sympathy for the man. He leaned forward.

"What about you?"

"Hm?"

"What did she take away from you?"

"She took away someone that I cared about too…but differently."

"Differently? How?"

"She talked to him and convinced him that I was the enemy. It was only after that I found him that he had completely forgotten about me and he hated me." The man smiled. "But I still love him, no matter what. And I want to save him even if he'll never remember me again."

"You still have a chance of saving him."

"…I've tried so hard…there's no way I can save him now." The man leaned forward. "But…thank you."

"Don't tell me you gave up on him."

"He fell in love with someone else, and looks so much happier with them than with me. Isn't love making sure that the other one is happy?"

"…you're an idiot."

"Hm?"

"Sure, the other person is happy, but what about you? Can you really live your life watching the man you love having a life you wanted with them?"

"…I've done it for years."

"Hm?"

"…nevermind." The man leaned forward. "So…what is your plan?"

**/=+=/**

**Hey…that one Germano fangirl who left a review. I support your OTP and I do think it's good, but…you're in a room filled with GerIta and Spamano fangirls. You might want to run now…**


	96. Velvet Red

**Oh, OK. You're forgiven, Germano fangirl.**

**/= "Servant of Evil –classical- Instrumental" =/**

"Today is a day on which the world as we know of it will change for the better. Your queen is driving all of you into despair. Your queen is driving all of you into poverty. Your queen is squeezing all of you dry just for the sake of making her happier in her own little world! Well, no more! Today, we are going to show here the cruel reality of what her dreams cost to the rest of us!

"She killed all who opposed her…she killed those who bothered to use their tongues to speak their minds…they're in the same area, aren't they? And yet she had the damned nerve to say that they can't be used in the same context! Forget that…forget that all of that is the truth. For the truth is here, right now, in the crowd of people that stand before me with their blades at the ready! We no longer want oppression by our own leaders on our own land!

"The time is now! There will be no other time for us to do this! Today, we fight!"

**/=+=/**

"_V-ve…s-so what's the plan?"_

"_Antonio's going to lead the main army through the front gate where all the soldiers are."_ Kiku looked up. _"If the story is consistent, the queen's army had just been in battle with the Green Soldiers, so they should be weakened from that."_

"_How long until they break through?"_ Li Xiao turned his head.

"…_five minutes, if they're really powered. Thirty minutes if the soldiers have any strength in them."_

"_So that will be fifteen for good estimate."_ Li Xiao looked up. _"If we move fast enough, we should be able to find Charice and get her out of here."_

"_We don't have to."_

Li Xiao turned to Kiku as he pointed at one of the doors to the mansion. They looked up and saw the door being crowded by fleeing servants as they ran deep into the mountains. All the Chinese man could do was nod in understanding. He turned back to Kiku to let him explain.

"In the story, the queen switches out with the servant and escapes as well. She might use a secret entrance, but there's a good chance she'll come through there." He pointed at the door. "It's away from the crowd; hence she'll be able to hide from the army if they come in."

"_T-that's good…"_ Feliciano mumbled. _"I…I can't help but be scared for…Charice…"_

Everyone nodded as they turned and waited at the forest in front of the door, wondering when she was going to come out. Sure enough, Li Xiao's ears caught the door sliding open and he turned his head to see that Charice had slipped through the cracks to hide. Kiku started moving, much to Li Xiao's surprise. He walked in front of her, making her jump.

"W-who are you?"

"I am an ally. Please do not be scared of me." Kiku bowed to her. "I have friends in the back. We will escort you out safely."

"But…my brother…"

"We have friends in the army. They will make sure that he is not harmed."

Charice was doubtful _(no surprise)_ before she decided to take up the offer. She followed Kiku back into the forest where she saw Li Xiao and stared at him for a few minutes, most likely trying to remember the first time they met, when she turned her head and saw Feliciano…and freaked.

"W-wha…what's that blue prince here for…?"

"_V-ve? N-no, no no no no…I'm not…I'm not a prince…"_ Feliciano leaned forward. _"I'm just…Feliciano…a friend…"_

"…a friend…? But it's your people that are attacking my castle!"

"_No…no, I'm not…a prince…don't be…scared of…"_

Feliciano collapsed onto the ground, alarming the rest of them. Charice stood back for a few seconds as Kiku finally removed the bandages from the boy's body, revealing cross-like scars on his forehead and wrists. The two boys looked at each other, utterly confused at what kind of damage the Shadows that attacked him had inflicted.

"What…what happened to him?" Kiku looked up.

"I don't know…he's still bleeding…" Li Xiao looked at him. "Why didn't he get Arthur to heal him…or better yet, why couldn't he heal himself?"

"…these wounds aren't healing…" The Japanese man looked at all of them. "This isn't good…we have to get Feliciano back to the others."

"And bring her right in front of the others who are thirsty for her blood?" He spat. "What would bringing her here do if we can't hide her afterwards?"

"Are you seriously going to put Feliciano's life in danger?"

"I'm sorry if I remember the reason why we're here!" Li Xiao slammed the ground. "Look…once we get her in a good disguise, then we can go back."

"What disguise? She doesn't even remember us."

"…yes I do."

They turned their heads as Charice lunged forward in her usual way and grabbed Feliciano's shoulders just as blood started to drip on her fingers. Her touch made his eyelids flicker and open slowly, turning his eyes to see the young girl whose eyes seemed to have the light returned to them. He blinked.

"…_Chari…chan?"_

"_Feli-chan…come on, come on…stop crying, please?"_ She smiled. _"I remember now, I remember. You don't have to bleed to death to make me remember…"_

"…_Lud…sama…he…he…"_ He started crying. _"He's gone…I lost him…"_

"_He's…_he's dead? **WHAT?**" Charice leaned forward. _**"Are you SERIOUS?"**_

The boy continued to cry for a few minutes before passing out again. She grumbled to herself as she stood up and turned to the other surprised young boys, her hands covered with Feliciano's blood from cuddling him too much.

"…geez…it takes one man near **death** to bring me back…" She looked up. "Is Ludwig…?"

"No. He's…just like you. Forgetting everything." Kiku stated. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"

"It's…it's stigmata. When he gets emotional to an extreme those wound things open and he starts bleeding out." She turned her head. "When did he start bleeding?"

"When we landed…an hour ago, I think?"

"_**He was bleeding for THAT **__**LONG?**__**"**_ She screamed. "I'm surprised he didn't bleed to death or something! We have to get him help or something!"

"With that outfit?" Kiku asked. "People are going to have suspicions about you being the princess."

"…I have an idea." She grinned. "Since this is my world, this should work…"

**/=+=/**

Five seconds later, she came out in all white magical girl attire with the sun pin as a hair clip. No one wanted to question it _(at the moment)_ as they all went careening down toward the pub and hotel for Feliciano's help. The minute Charice barreled the door down, poor Matthew was having a heart attack. She didn't look at anyone as she stormed toward the innkeeper.

"Do you have one room right now?"

"Um…_y-yes, we do."_

"Good. We need it. **Now.****"** She said in a panicked mood. "We have money, if you need it."

"_N-no…g-go right ahead…here's your keys."_

"Thank _**you.**__**"**_ Charice turned to Kiku. "Here. Follow the number. Maple-chan, follow him."

"_W-why?"_

"You have healing spells. He needs it. _**Add two and two together!"**_

Matthew didn't argue as the small group charged up the stairs to get Feliciano to care. The others stared at them as Li Xiao and Charice sat calmly down at the table. She was staring at Ludwig the entire time, happily informed of his "condition" and made no remark to look at him. She didn't have to: he looked as pale as ever.

"Um…w-who are you?" He finally asked.

"She's a noble from our kingdom, kidnapped and taken as a servant from the queen." Alfred came in. "Now that she's here, we're just here to make sure that Feliciano is better."

"Why?"

"He's a noble too. Friend of Charice and the one who planned how to save her…of course, I'm the brains of all of it." Alfred surely knew how to make up stories. "He's not related to Lovino, if you're wondering."

"I…I see…"

Charice stared at everyone, wondering what's going on.

"…he told me that he had a man in his past…someone who loved him and died." Ludwig turned to the others, the skin returning back to its normal tint. "Tell me about him."

"Well…for lack of a better word, he looked exactly like you." Gilbert cut in this time, a little confused.

"Oh really…explains how he sounds like such a whining dipshit…"

Charice froze for a minute. Li Xiao held her leg down.

"He was whining about the bastard for so long that I couldn't help but wonder why he didn't give up on him. He's dead, isn't he?"

The others looked at each other for a few minutes, wondering what the hell to tell him without letting Charice loose among the crowd of bastards. Antonio hadn't returned from the raid, so he couldn't talk to them. After a few seconds, Alfred decided to be the one to talk.

"Because he is."

"Hm?"

"Feliciano kept holding onto the belief that he was alive, right? Well…a-a while back, we found him. He was alive, and unfortunately seemed to forget everything he was." He stated. "We were planning on talking to him, but we were debating on how we should tell him first."

The man leaned back in blank confusion for a few minutes before sighing, standing up and heading up toward the hotel room. After a few seconds, they turned back to Charice as she started shaking rapidly.

"_Um…Charice? Calm down here, all right?"_ He stated. _"If you act out of it, you might be caught-"_

"_Did he just…did he just call him what I __think__ he called him?"_

"Hey, uh…" Alfred leaned forward, knowing what this is. "He doesn't remember anything about his past. So don't say anything-"

"_**MUUUURRRDDDDDEEEEEEEERRRRRRR!"**_


	97. All That Gives You HELL

**/= "Servant of Evil –classical- Instrumental" =/**

He had no idea what he was doing. First, he was talking to Charice's valets, and now here he was at the door of what sounded like Feliciano's room. Ludwig paused for a minute before he knocked on the door, hearing a mumble before the door opened to reveal a tired Matthew.

"…how is he?"

"_He's lost a lot of blood…I'm worn out just trying to keep him alive…"_ He rubbed his eyes. _"I'm…I'm scared for him. Why did he hide these wounds from us?"_

"…it's all right. You should rest."

"_But Feliciano…"_

"I'll look over him."

Matthew was about to say something when he swooned; definitely tired. Kiku steadied him as they left, leaving Ludwig to walk in to assess the damage. He closed the door quietly and turned back around to see what Matthew had been working on.

Feliciano lay quietly on the bed, the covers going up to his shoulders but still thin enough to reveal the figure that it was hiding. As he walked quietly, he heard quiet shallow breaths escape his lips, and a bandage was still wrapped around his head. His fingers twitched and he lifted his hands to look, only to see that the bandages were starting to turn a little red. He blinked before looking under the covers, revealing that there were bandages and towels at all his wrists, and they were turning red as well. When Feliciano hiccupped and a tear went down his face, he saw more blood escape his veins. He paused.

_What in the __world?_

"_D-Doitsu…"_ Feliciano's face scrunched, and the rag on his forehead turned an even deeper shade of red. _"Doitsu…Doitsu…"_

Ludwig blinked and sat down next to him, quietly replacing the rag on his forehead. The minute his fingers grazed Feliciano's skin, he saw his eyelids twitch and the wounds on his forehead seemed to shrink a few inches. He stared for a few minutes before Feliciano relaxed and the blood continued to flow. He blinked.

_I could've sworn that the wounds closed just now…_

He looked up to Feliciano's innocent face, turning slowly paler by the minute. What was going on…?

**/=+=/**

_He was wondering just what was keeping Feliciano so long. Ludwig looked at the calendar and saw the date: October 13. After a few minutes, he finally found his house. He knocked on the door and saw with surprise that there wasn't anyone answering the door. Ludwig sighed._

"_Must've fallen asleep again…"_

_He grabbed his keys and opened the door, blinking to see that there was no one there. Ludwig sighed and closed the door behind him, hearing some shuffling of feet and the light grabbing of something heavy. He turned his head as he heard a cry and something raining down on him at a speed so slow that he had the time to grab the attack and twist his arm at the same time. He heard a sharp yelp as he saw the face of his attacker._

"_Geez…Feliciano…" He sighed. "It's just m-"_

_He blinked for a few minutes before noticing that Feliciano's wrists and forehead were wrapped in bandages, tightened to the point where they were starting to fray. Ludwig paused as Feliciano chuckled lightly and lowered his arms._

"_Ve…y-you should've announced yourself."_

"_Sorry…I thought you slept in. Calling for you wouldn't have done anything." He answered. "What…happened to you?"_

"_Oh…n-nothing. I just had an accident with some cutlery, that's all."_

"_Oh, I see." Ludwig sighed. "That's a lot of bandages, though."_

"…_the wounds were a little deep…"_

"_Then you need to go to a hospital if they're that deep."_

"_But…they're not that dangerous deep…"_

"_Then you don't need the banda-"_

_He looked down and saw that the thick layers of bandages were starting to be stained with blood. That caught Feliciano's attention as he stepped back and tried to hide the wounds, but was powerless against the other's arms. Ludwig grabbed his wrists and started unraveling the bandages, seeing that after a few wraps that it was caked with blood. He continued until he saw strange cross-shaped marks on his wrist, leaking with blood when he removed the bandages. Ludwig looked up, clearly alarmed._

"…_Feli…?"_

"…_u-um…"_

_Ludwig quickly grabbed the other arm and started unraveling the bandages; this time he didn't bother to resist. His other wrist bore the same wounds, and so did his forehead. Surprisingly enough, Ludwig didn't remark on them, instead heading to the back and grabbing more bandages for him. The Italian didn't mention anything as he came back with the rubbing alcohol and the bandages. He lightly held his fingers, and he could feel how delicate they were becoming._

"_You don't need the alcohol."_

"_No?"_

"_These don't get…infected."_

_He decided to go with it as he sat Feliciano down and wrapped the bandages around his arms, hearing him wince at how tight he was making them. When he was wrapping his forehead, he noticed that Feliciano's eyes were starting to water up yet again. It quickly made Ludwig's nerves tense._

"_W-what? Does it hurt? Is this too tight?"_

"_N-no…I'm just…crying…" He sniffled. "It…happens."_

"_Feli, tell me what's going on. You don't like wounds."_

"…"

"_**Tell me."**_

"_V-veee!" He whimpered. "I-it's…stigmata…"_

"_Stigma-"_

"_I-I've had it for a while…ever since I was young…every time I cry, it comes back…" He leaned on Ludwig. "And…it…it hurts…when it happens…"_

"…_it's all right now…it's all right…" Ludwig held his shoulders, being careful not to break him. "Don't…um…don't cry…"_

"_I-I'm trying…" Feliciano's eyes were watering up again. "But it's hard…"_

"_Feli…don't cry, please." He smiled. "I'm right here. There's no need to cry."_

"…_veeeee…I-I won't cry…because you're here now, right…?"_

"…_yeah…I'll make sure that you won't cry…we're all making you happy, right?"_

"_Veeee…"_

_He looked at him and realized that he had fallen asleep. Sighing, Ludwig decided to replace the bandages, seeing that the wounds had mysteriously vanished while a smile crept on the boy's face. He smiled softly as he lay down the Italian on the couch he was on._

"_I'll make sure that you never cry again, Feliciano…I'll make sure of that…"_

**/=+=/**

His eyes opened, utterly confused. In a daze, he found himself gazing back toward the Italian still sleeping peacefully on the bed. Instantly, he felt the memory of what he experienced flashed through his mind, and after that it felt as if something had broken in his head…a wave of emotions flooding through him…he turned to him in shock.

"…Feli…? _**Feli!"**_ He ran back to his side. _"Oh god, oh god…Feli, is this for…?"_

How could he be such an idiot? How could he yell at him for no reason, walking away when he clearly needed someone to wipe the tears away? He made that vow, the day that he found out the truth…that he would always be there for the Italian, and make sure that he never cried again. And it was him who made him like this…near death…

"_Feli…Feli, look at me…Feli, please look at me…"_ He didn't want his voice to break. _"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…please wake up…"_

"…_Lud…?"_

He blinked when the Italian stirred and opened his eyes. The fact that it took him almost a few minutes to even pry them open made his heart break all the more. Still…when they opened all the way when he saw the watering tears off his face…

"_Feli…Feli, you're…"_

"…_am I…am I dreaming…?"_ He whimpered. _"But…you…"_

Feliciano flinched before turning away, shaking, desperately trying to move away from him. Ludwig looked down at the back of his head, hearing him whimper pathetically.

"_No…I…I must be dreaming…"_ He sobbed. The bandages were getting darker. _"Lud…Ludwig told me that he would never…talk to me again…"_

"_Feli…"_ He caressed his cheek, hearing the boy whimper and flinch. _"Feli…look at me."_

Slowly, he pushed his head back until they were face-to-face again. The fear in his eyes made the German shiver in reluctant understanding, and he neared him until they were touching foreheads. He knew there was only one way to wipe all these tears away…and god knows he should do it.

"…_I…Italia…"_

"…_a-ah…"_ He was shaking now. _"D-D-D…Doitsu…?"_

Ludwig was crying at this point, holding onto the shaking body with all his might while hearing the boy in his arms sob into his shoulder. His body was still drained with energy, clearly seen when he tried to lift his arms to hug him. They parted, and he couldn't help but be startled by the tears flying out of Feliciano's eyes.

"Y-you're still crying…"

"_D-Doitsu…I'm not…sad…"_ He was sobbing at this point. _"I'm just…I'm just…so…happy…I thought I lost you forever…"_

"I'm not leaving you…even if I say otherwise…" Ludwig held Feliciano's back, feeling just how vulnerable he was. The bandages were falling off Feliciano's forehead, revealing that the wounds were gone and that they had left a dry mark. "I'm so sorry…I…I never wanted to hurt you…"

"_Ve…"_ He cuddled into his shoulder. _"I know that…I'm not mad at you…I'll never be mad at you…"_

"…Feli…"

The Italian felt himself be lifted into the air, leaning on Ludwig's body and feeling how warm he was. The German watched as Feliciano finally found enough energy in his body to move his arm and touch his chest, breathing deeply into his neck and still feeling the happiness going through his fragile skin…

"_**GEEEERRRRMMMMAAAANNNNYYYYY!"**_

"Hm?"

***BAM!***

"_**YOU MADE FELI-CHAN CRY, YOU **__**JACKASS!**__** TAKE THAT! AND **__**THAT!**__** AND **__**THAT!**____**ASIAN INVASION**__**, YOU BASTARD! NO ONE MAKES FELI-CHAN CRY AND GET AWAY WITH IT! TAKE THIS! **__**PADDLE TO THE FACE!**__**"**_

Feliciano flopped back down on the bed as he saw Charice bash the living hell out of Ludwig with a random paddle and the other pillow on the bed _(Feliciano wished he had that pillow)_. She started shaking her fist at him.

"Don't think that's all of your punishment! I have more where that came up! Take this! _**ASIAN INVASION!**__**"**_

Nothing happened for a few minutes, leaving the others wondering what Charice was talking about. Ludwig staggered up to his feet, muttering something to himself as Feliciano tried to find enough energy to call out to Charice.

"…_daaaaaaa-__**ZEEEEEEEEEE!**__**"**_

"Eh?"

***CRASH!***

"Hah? Yong Soo?" Charice turned around. _"I thought Kiku was following me…"_

"He's too busy talking to the others about some plan or something!" Yong Soo rubbed his chin, cleaning the blood out of his shoe. "Francis just came in and told us that someone should come in past you guys to fight the murderer because he thinks that you guys can't handle him like this."

"_**HAAAH?**_ Well thanks a lot, Francis!"

"What? What with half your guys going unconscious or being mind-controlled and stuff, da ze!" He stated. "Besides, we all saw what happened and we all agreed that everyone's going to come in one at a time if you need help!"

"…all…of you?"

"Yeah! Anyone with a Persona is planning on coming in here when you need it! The only problem is that one of them has to stay behind to keep the other side of the portal open, and I'm like _'that won't be me, da ze!'_ Besides, I want personal revenge on Ludwig, too!"

"Why?"

"Well, we all saw it up there, but no one saw it in here, but…" Yong Soo leaned in. _"Ludwig was cursing out Feliciano on their boat ride here, calling him pathetic and crap while saying that he was a worthless piece of life, adding that he shouldn't bother talking to him until he got over someone or something like that. It was a toss-up between me or Elizabeta, but I won out da ze~"_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

...

…

…

…

"All right, that's it _**YOU'RE GOING **__**DOOOOWN!**__**"**_

And the beating commenced.

"_C-Charice…"_

And there was blood flying in the air.

"_Y-Yong Soo…"_

Amazon war cries.

"_I-it's OK! Really…"_

And then they stopped.

"_Um…h-he remembers now…and he was making it up to me…"_ Feliciano blushed cutely, hiding underneath the covers.

"…uhhhhh…" Yong Soo blinked, rubbing the back of his head. "H-how bad do you think we beat him, Charice? Cause we might've made him forget again, da ze…"

"What? _**Oh crap!**_ We can't have that!" Charice started shaking the body of the downed German. "Quick, Yong Soo! **Beat him in the back of the head and maybe he'll remember!"**

"_**I still remember, geez!"**_ Ludwig pushed her off, standing up. "Though…I have to admit that I did deserve a bit of that."

"Eh? How are you still standing, da ze?"

"I cast a Regan spell before you came in." He sighed. "The last thing we need is for Feliciano to cry again."

"…yeah…right…"

"So I kindly ask that you _**leave**_ so that Feliciano can recover."

"Eh?"

"_**NOW."**_

"Right, right!"

And with that, the two of them started scrambling out of the room. Ludwig sighed before turning toward a semi-hiding Feliciano with a little bit of his energy back. He smiled a bit before kissing his forehead, hearing him coo underneath his lips before he turned up and seeing him chuckle.

"_Now then…where were we…?"_

And then they ended the repentance with a kiss, for that is how most of them end.

**/=+=/**

**So for those of you who wanted revenge…are you guys happy now?**


	98. Lifting the Misty Veil

**Huh. Strange, coming out of all of you. You guys must really love this.**

**/= "Servant of Evil –classical- Instrumental" =/**

When Feliciano have finally recovered all his energy back, Ludwig escorted him down to the pub. He looked up and saw Yong Soo explaining the whole plan that he had told Charice before. None of them seemed that happy _(especially Alfred, who __**totally**__ wanted to do this alone)_, but after a quick explanation why, he decided that he might as well go with it.

"So…that's all of us…except for Antonio and Lovino…" Arthur looked up. "The story's technically done, so we should be able to get them back here."

"It's not done!" Charice pointed out. "What about kuya?"

"…right…him…"

The group sat there for a minute as Feliciano was led into an empty seat. The way that he was escorted into it and felt Ludwig slide the chair into place just made him oddly happy…albeit embarrassed _(for strange reasons)_. At the door, he could see Alfred staring out for a few minutes before looking up.

"They're here, guys."

"W-wait…what do I do?" Charice pointed to herself.

"Tie your hair up. You look completely different with that outfit on you." Li Xiao smiled. "And the fact that you have your hair pin back means that he will be unlikely to make the connection."

"…_that's the kind of stuff you find in badly written fanfiction…"_

They waited for a few minutes before they noticed Antonio and Lovino walking through the door, all dressed up in their formal attire. It was then the small group realized that Ludwig was still in the room…and the minds of each one of them started to melt down like ice. Feliciano looked away, hoping that Lovino wouldn't notice him. He could feel Ludwig's finger rub calming circles on his back, and it was accenting the blush on his face.

"Is that…?" Lovino's voice wavered.

_Here it comes…!_

"…Ludwig?"

_Holy crap, this __**is**__ badly written fanfiction…_

"You're…you're alive…"

Ludwig's finger continued to rub Feliciano's back until Lovino brought himself to move forward and hug him. While the idea of Lovino and Ludwig hugging each other while the both of them were willing to would have been great in any other form of context…what it was now made the majority of them rather sick. Li Xiao was holding Charice's leg down because she was obviously about to rage at any point.

"…Antonio…how?" Lovino turned to him. "How did you…?"

"W-we were just passing by when we saw the village being attacked." Antonio had a sad smile on his face. "There were no survivors when we walked in…he barely escaped with his life…"

"…we?"

"My companions here." He gestured toward the table next to Ludwig. "Without them, I would've died from the soldiers that were there."

"I-I see…" He nodded to all of them. "I must thank you all."

"No problem. We did what we thought was right." Li Xiao said with a smile. "We are all humans, after all."

"Yeah. Totally human." Charice looked at Lovino right in the eye. "And with all the blood that he was leaking, we kinda assumed that he needed the care, that's all."

"I'm glad you saved him…really."

_This really is a bad fanfic…_

"Um…" Ludwig blinked. "Who…are you?"

That made both the Italian brothers jump and someone to start snickering _(damn you, Gilbert)_. Lovino was staring at Ludwig in shock for a few minutes before his gaze turned down to Feliciano, who was now a few feet away from jumping in shock. His face suddenly changed shape and they could hear growling.

"_Why do you look like me…?"_

"V-ve…?"

"_**I knew it! You're working for that damn witch queen too, aren't you?"**_

Five seconds later, Lovino had pinned Feliciano down on the ground with his hands grasped tightly around his neck. The whole group stood up in shock as they watched Lovino begin to strangle him, Matthew quickly trying to pull him away. All they could hear was Feliciano whimpering pathetically for air, not even trying to pull his fingers away.

"You're not going to conspire him against me, dammit! He's mine, and mine alone!"

"_No, Lovino! Don't do this!"_ Matthew screamed. _"You can't kill him! He has nothing to do with the queen!"_

"Don't lie to me!" He threw Matthew off. _**"Why does he look like me then?"**_

"Hey!" Antonio grabbed his shoulders, pulling him back. "Don't hurt him; he's already been through enough!"

"Since _**when?**_ You know that the queen has that strange affinity for voodoo magic!" Lovino screamed. "He was made because he knew that Ludwig was going to be saved! She wanted to break me! _**That bastard!"**_

"No, Lovino, no!" Antonio's face suddenly got serious. "You don't understand!"

"…_fra-fratello…"_

Lovino paused, looking down at the boy underneath his fingertips. He wasn't making any move to pull him off, but instead was opening his eyes to look at his brother. Golden eyes looked back at him, slowly watering up as he felt the fingers twitch back and slowly move.

"…_fratello…"_

"…Feli…?"

Lovino launched himself backwards as he finally felt Antonio's strength pull him back, seeing Feliciano coughing and gasping for air as Ludwig and Kiku checked up on his condition. He had seen that look on his face before…so many times, so long ago…and he was the cause of it…

"…_b-bastard…"_

"That's it. _**YOU MUST REMEMBER, DA ZE!"**_

***grope***

"_**I'm in on this too! No one harms Feli-chan and gets away with it!"**_

***tackle-glomp***

"**Hey! **_**I WANT IN ON THIS AWESOMENESS!"**_

***vital regions SEIZED***

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"_**CHIGIIIIIIII!"**_

**/=+=/**

"You better be bloody grateful that we saved you."

"I know…I had enough of a hard time kissing the potato bastard, so _don't make me do anything else…"_

"S-sorry…" Charice rubbed the back of her head, feeling the wound. "But we had to make you remember, you know."

"Geez…you didn't have to force me to…" Lovino looked up. "So now what?"

"Well, we're just missing one person right now and we need to get him back." Kiku stated, folding his arms.

"That shouldn't be too hard, compared to the story right?" Alfred asked. "Come on, the story should totally tell us where he is!"

"He'll be in the center square at three o' clock." He answered. "But knowing the time here, he'll be most likely to be there already."

"Then let's _**go!"**_ Charice stood up. "Rizal might be there already, but he needs us! He has to be!"

"_Yeah…"_ Matthew stood up as well. _"W-we should see if he's there…"_

"Point taken." Gilbert lifted up his fingers. "I lead!"

"Screw that, I lead!" Alfred pointed to himself. "I'm the hero, after all!"

"Yeah, well I'm awesomer than the hero! You know, the cool second-in-command!"

"Sorry, but that title belongs to me aru." Li Xiao waved his hand. "Now you two can bicker like girls while I lead the way."

"_**HEY!"**_

The whole crowd marched forward, hearing Alfred and Gilbert bicker with each other like little girls and Ludwig being forced to smack the both of them every few feet or so. Antonio was about to head forward when he realized that Lovino wasn't part of the group. He turned his head around and saw him glaring back at him.

"I need to talk to you, bastard."

"…Lovino…"

"You haven't said a damn word to me ever since you got here! You out of all people should've known that I wasn't in my own head!"

"But Lovi-chan, if I tried to tell you the truth, you wouldn't believe me!" Antonio waved his hand around. "I couldn't afford another headbutt to my stomach in this time and place!"

"_**Not that!**_ Why then, haven't you tried talking to me when we were in the damn raid?"

That was when Antonio got quiet.

"_**Answer me, **__**dammit!**__**"**_

"Because…you looked happy."

"Eh?"

"The entire raid, you kept saying how it was all for him…how this was for revenge for her killing your beloved. You were so into it…crying when we had our target…telling me that he was happy now…" Antonio smiled. "You never said anything like that to me. Ever."

"Antonio…"

"I only live to make you happy…and if it meant that you were your happiest with him, then so be it. I've hidden my emotions before; this time wouldn't be anything different-"

"_**BULLSHIT! I WASN'T HAPPY!"**_

"Lovino?"

"**I wasn't happy because that wasn't the real me! ****You**** know the real me more than I knew myself; I thought we had this established!"** Lovino screamed. **"Are you saying that this false sense of happiness for a man I had **_**LOATHED**_** this entire time was going to mean more to me than the crap I have to deal with you every single day? **_**BULLSHIT!**__**"**_

"…I…"

"You know me, Antonio. I've told you that I put you above all else." He was crying now. "I don't care _**what**_ incarnation of me tells you otherwise…_or are you really that dense of a bastard…?"_

"…_oh, mi tomate…"_ Antonio held him close. _"I am never dense when it comes to how you feel…"_

"…_you…__bastard__..."_

The two of them stood there for a few seconds, holding each other and allowing the Italian to sob quietly into the man's chest and hearing the other one try not to cry as well. All Antonio could do was smile through the tears and be grateful that he had what was his back in his arms once more…and once this was all over…he would never let him go…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"_Um…Li-chan?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Should we get them?"_

"_They're in a moment; leave them be. It's not three yet anyway."_

"_Don't tell me you're completely romantic now."_

"_How can I not be? You'd be leaving me if I wasn't."_

"…_true…"_

**/=+=/**

**God bless updates. As long and…****LONG**** as they were.**


	99. The Book Begins to Open

**WHO LOVES PLOT? NO ONE? ALL RIGHT!**

**/=+=/**

The streets were oddly empty when they started heading forward. Alfred led the way as they plowed through the streets, void of life as if the whole city was abandoned. Some of them were turning their heads and seeing buckets that were overturned and empty stalls, all rotting with decay, and the whole place had an eerie chill to it.

"It's as if everyone had abandoned the city…" Antonio blinked.

"After liberation, though?" Kiku rubbed the back of his head. "The story doesn't mention anything about something like this…"

"Maaaaaan…this is like the start of some really scary ghost story!" Alfred started shivering. "I-I'm walking faster…!"

"We can't do that, bloody git! There's a chance that everyone that abandoned this place could come back as Shadows!" Arthur smacked him. "We can't afford an ambush!"

"This is totally unawesome…" Gilbert spat. "Kiku, where does that story of yours say ends?"

"In the main square…at three o' clock…" He answered. "The execution hour."

"M-my brother is…?"

"D-don't worry, Charice! This is your world; now that you are in control of it you can-"

"_**No! I can't let him die here!"**_

"GAH! What the heck, da ze?"

"Crap, she's running forward…!"

**/=+=/**

_No…I can't do this…I can't lose my brother here! Not after we know that the murderer is here!_

Her footsteps were loud against the dirt floor, her breaths ragged and quick to her ears. The only thing going through her mind was the crumpled up body of her younger brother, caked with blood and cold to the touch. She had seen him close to death so many times before, and she always knew that he could pull through it without any problems at all. The recent time that she had seen him like that, he had just liberated the both of them from Kiku's rule. His chest was covered with blood, gunshot wounds a plenty, and he was smiling the whole time as they saved his life. To this day, she could still smell the blood on her hands.

To this day, she can't stand even the sight of it.

Her breaths were broken as she found herself slowing down to a halt. She was lost. The entire place looked like it was warped out of vision. But Charice didn't care; all she had on her mind was Rizal. Without even thinking, she ran forward and passed as many buildings as she could. She didn't care if she was going to be tired…she wanted to see her brother…

"Charice, _**wait!"**_

She stopped, hearing footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw a tired Feliciano running toward her location, nearly dropping to the ground in exhaustion. Without even thinking about it she grabbed him, surprised that he was steadying himself and was now looking at her with a smile on his face.

"Ve~~~that training with Doitsu really helps." He giggled. "Are you all right, Charice?"

"…Feli-chan? Where are the others?"

"I-I don't know! We were trying to come after you and then all of a sudden everything started to look the same!"

"Look the…?"

She turned her head and understood what he meant: all of the city blocks around them looked exactly the same. At that realization, she saw with surprise that a ripple in time shook through the buildings, and Li Xiao fell through what looked like a rip in time. The both of them jumped.

"W-what the hell was that?"

"…ow…" He looked up. "Charice?"

"Li?" She looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"The whole place started getting warped when we lost you…" He answered. "While we were looking for you, I suddenly fell through a hole and…"

"Ve? Do you think that we're in a separate location from the others?"

"Maybe…stay here for a minute, I'll try to see if there's anything here."

And without warning, Li Xiao turned and ran forward into the darkness while leaving them alone. Charice sighed for a few minutes, extremely anxious, when she noticed that Feliciano was staring at her with a look of interest on his face. She had to admit that it did look cute on him.

"Charice…are you worried about Rizal?"

"Of course I am!" She spat back. "He's my younger brother; what am I supposed to do, sit back here and wait for him to come to me?"

"…but he's Rizal. He's a very strong-willed man!" Feliciano clapped his hands together. "He's kind and quiet and reminds me of Doitsu-ki a lot!"

"…he does like hanging around with him…"

"He reminds me of Lovino too! He's very protective of me!"

"Protective? But you have me and Doitsu-ki to protect you!"

"Ve…maybe he's just worrying too much…I can protect myself, right?"

"Well, did you get your Persona yet?"

"VEEE~! Yes I did! And Li Xiao said that it was very cool!"

"Awww~! Now I want to see it!"

"Yaaay~!"

_I am the older sister…I will always want to protect him…but I have to remember that he can protect himself…he's really the one worthy to hold the title of the Philippines…_

With that thought, they heard someone running toward them. They looked up and saw Li Xiao staring at them as he slowed down, wondering what was going on. But then the whole world started to ripple, and soon the rest of the group was staring at them like they had spawned out of nowhere. She looked up with a smile.

"I have to find my brother now…I need to save him."

"We're not leaving without him, da ze!" Yong Soo grinned. "Cause we know where we're going!"

**/=+=/**

It wasn't long until they found the pathway to the main square, and then Charice took off running. No one was surprised, but they were still shocked at just how fast she could run. Nonetheless, she was the first one to reach the main square and see the back of her brother staring at the guillotine in the middle of the area.

"_**Kuya!"**_

He turned around, and she noticed that he wasn't looking at her at all. Instead, he had this weird aura around him…like he was hiding something from her. He took a deep breath and she heard a strange tint to his voice…like it was something not from this world. He was laughing…no, cackling?

"I can't believe it…this was where all of this was supposed to end!"

"Kuya?"

"You know the story well, don't you? A girl rules the kingdom and ends up being saved by her faithful servant! You know what his fate was? _**This!"**_ He pointed to the guillotine. "Died for someone else's sins, and never regretted it…not even on the pathway to hell!"

"What are you-?"

"If the blood of one person is evil, then the blood of all siblings must be as well. That must mean that your blood must be evil…"

"Rizal?"

"…no…because of what I am, I can't taint you…"

"You're not making any sense!"

"Do you know how people like you are created? You're made from diplomacy; you're made from war; you're made with agreements…but out of everything, all you have to do was open your eyes and let yourself live like a baby in a new world." Rizal smiled. "I wasn't made the same way, you know."

"Made the…?"

"I wasn't created like you, Charice. I was made differently."

She was about to question something when she felt the ground shake and his body begin to glow. Five seconds later, tentacles came out of the ground and lunged toward her. She braced herself, only to hear someone else scream in pain in front of her. She pried her eyes open to see Li Xiao standing in front of her, the tentacles protruding from his stomach.

"_**Li!"**_

"…_all's good…this doesn't really hurt as much…"_ He grinned. _"It's a Shadow thing, I guess…just a little annoying…"_

He pushed himself off the tentacles and staggered to face Rizal as he saw the tentacles retreated into the ground. The others quickly ran to their side as Rizal finally looked up. Everyone was shocked, Antonio the most, because Rizal's eyes were finally glowing a bright red.

"I was created differently…isn't that right, _**Antonio?"**_

"W-what?"

It was then that Charice started screaming in pain. Matthew looked up from healing Li Xiao and noticed that Charice's left arm was glowing and burning at the same time. Yong Soo took the opportunity to pull down the sleeve, revealing a long healing scar pulsing in appearance.

"W-what the heck is this, da ze?"

"Once upon a time, when time was eternal, there was a man who used one poor little girl just to satisfy his own selfish needs." Rizal straightened himself. "Like any girl growing up, she wanted nothing more than daddy's affection…until the day she woke up and decided to rebel. It was the only time she would do so."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Gilbert turned to Antonio.

"The man was quickly able to destroy the opposition; he didn't have the time nor the place to deal with it long term. He burned the village she lived in, killed the people that cared for her, and just to rub it in…he used the axe he held so dearly and left an eternal mark on her arm…wrist to elbow."

"That was…?" Lovino turned to the shocked Antonio. He didn't look like he was moving.

"She lost so much blood that day, and for three hundred years that arm would hang uselessly by her side…so much rage built up inside her that it threatened to tear the only psyche that she had, so she compressed it…waited for it to grow…but to her surprise, it went away with time. It evaporated from her blood like it had never existed…only it did. Remember the blood that she had lost that faithful evening? The amount that could kill nations?"

"…" Ludwig was getting it. "No…no way…"

"It took on the rage. It became the one that held the pain and suffering of her people. She was weak; she didn't want to fight. She was tainted to the point where she was purely a pacifist who couldn't see anything past the fantasy world that she had created! That's why the rage took a different form…that's why it gathered itself from the screams of the people…it came together and formed…well, me."

Charice was flabbergasted.

"You're…you're my…?"

"But there will always be a time where a creation should take the master's place…" Rizal started hovering, the tentacles erupting from the ground. "I will not stand back and let myself be taken over. I will become what I am destined to be!"

"C-Charice, stay back!" Feliciano stood in front of her. "H-he's transforming!"

"…he's…my…he's my Shadow…?"

"I will become the Philippines…I will become what this nation truly should be…_**and I intend to do whatever it takes…for the sake of my people. Now then…**__**IT'S MY TURN!**__**"**_

**/=+=/**

**I have no idea why, but I recently started imagining Rizal's voice to be…ShadyVox. Stupid, I know, but…for those of you who see his YouTube voice reels, you'd somewhat know where I'm going with this, but…I don't know, **_**DON'T QUESTION ME!**_


	100. As The Battle Begins, the Story Unfolds

**Wow…100 chapters. That is a long time to write something. Thanks for the 550+ reviews!**

**EDIT: Kids, THIS is the real 100th chapter. For all of you nice people who told me that I screwed up updating at midnight, you're gonna have to review anonymously just to get accepted XD**

**/= "Long Flash Back" by Dragon Ball Z=/**

The Shadow in front of them was a hideous being: warped wings that were peeling off like old, rusted metal sheets, with tentacles coming out of the ground and the face being that of a demon straight out of hell. Charice couldn't believe that the most hideous Shadow that she had ever seen in her life was her younger brother…the one she would give her life for…

"Charice…" Kiku looked at her.

He pushed her out of the way as the Shadow crashed his arm where she used to be, scaring the entire group. Feliciano charged forward and punched right through his stomach, electricity crackling from his fingertips. He flipped over and landed squarely on his feet, seeing the hole he created fill up and Rizal staring at him with a grin on his face.

_**["You…"]**_

He started charging forward with fresh rage in his blood, scaring Feliciano into submission. Lovino and Li Xiao instantly charged forward, pushing Rizal out of the way and changing his target to them. They were flying in the air and crashing into walls, and soon Rizal was doing that to everyone. No one seemed to counter him at all.

_**["Damn you, Feliciano! You're the one who caused me this much pain!"]**_

"W-what?"

_**["It was you…it was always about you! Die! Die like the bastard you are!"]**_

Rizal's eyes seemed fixated on the Italian, only turning away to get rid of the people that were countering him. Charice had no idea what to do: this was her brother, she could never raise a hand against him. And yet he was going to kill Feliciano, one of his best friends…

"Why, kuya…_**why?"**_

Feliciano did all he could, his Persona constantly in his body and throwing as much attacks as he could, but for some reason he would not stop moving toward him, the murderous look in his eyes getting worse and worse. No one seemed to be able to stop Rizal, and by the looks of things he was grateful for that.

"W-what did I do to you, Rizal?" Feliciano panicked. "What did I ever do to you?"

_**["You already know what you did! Don't play stupid and say you don't have a clue!"]**_

Finally, they were face-to-face with each other. Feliciano looked straight into his eyes, and he saw a part of him he never saw before: one of betrayal and hate, a flame burning deep within him that had stayed for years, but had never taken a full effect until now…but there was something else in there that he couldn't identify…a bit of a light?

"Don't hate on Feli, Rizal. I thought you hated me."

They looked up and saw that Antonio was standing in front of the both of them, his axe pointed straight at his knuckles. He didn't seem scared at what was going on, instead looking as if he was expecting this day to come to him. The Shadow's arm hovered at where they were, an inch away from the blade.

"I know you, Rizal. Your rage for me is greater than any type of anger in your blood." He stated. "Take it out on me, why don't you? You know how much I like a challenge."

_**["You're too nice, Antonio."]**_

That's when the bloodshed began. He uppercut his jaw until Antonio was flying in the air, and then he zoomed up in the air after him. Everyone tried to get up there, but Rizal was too high for any of them to reach, and by the sound of it he was winning. Charice could only watch as the others tried to cast Persona spells to help, but Rizal was blocking all of them while focusing on his real target.

"I can't reach him, da ze!" Yong Soo even tried throwing stuff to him. "Anyone can?"

"Hold on, I have an idea!"

Alfred grabbed one of his cards and instantly a huge Pegasus appeared in front of him, jumping on his back and flying upward _(much to Arthur's dismay)_. However, a few minutes passed before he was attacked by a stray lightning bolt, and he was sent careening toward the ground. Arthur was barely able to save him, moving him out of the way as the ground crashed and shook, making many of them fall over. The dust cleared, revealing a huge blade digging through Antonio's stomach. Lovino started screaming.

_**["There you go…now you'll never make her suffer again…"]**_

"…_guh…I hope…you're at peace…after this…"_

_**["Don't worry; I am."]**_

The blade was pulled out, spilling blood over Lovino's face. Fresh rage ran through his body as he charged forward, only being tossed out of the way by Ludwig before the blade nearly beheaded him. Rizal backed up, seeing the life drain out of the Spaniard.

_**["Now that is the perfect ending."]**_

Charice didn't know what was going on; five seconds later she was running forward toward his body, hearing Lovino scream at the Spaniard to wake up and stop taking a siesta _(at least, that's what she think he said; it was frenzied Italian)_. The blood was starting to get on her shoes, making her panic even more.

"Dammit, Antonio…_**Antonio!"**_ His voice was wavering. "Wake up…_wake up…"_

He wasn't moving, a small trail of blood dripping down his mouth and his skin slowly paling. The whole group was getting terrified before Lovino started screaming and charged forward, trying his best to kill Rizal. The Shadow was too fast for him, kicking him in the stomach and throwing him to the side.

_**["Don't try to resist me now…I'm invincible now…**__**no one**__** can kill me."]**_

Charice looked down at Antonio's body, seeing Matthew try pathetically to save him, with no effect. She looked back up to Rizal, who was now looking straight at her with a blank look that felt more like Antonio back in the old days than her younger, mentally logical brother.

"Why…? Antonio asked for forgiveness so many times…"

_**["You never trust a man with a silver tongue. **__**Never.**__**"]**_ He spat. _**["Haven't you realized that already?"]**_

"But he never hurt me when we entered this school!"

_**["He's using you! They're **__**all**__** using you! All of them are cheating bastards and none of them should be trusted!"]**_

"Y-you're wrong!"

Charice turned her head and saw with surprise that it was Feliciano who had moved in front of her. Li Xiao was already grabbing her arm and didn't bother to make a sound out of his reaction. Rizal seemed fixated on the small Italian, and she could see his feet shiver from extreme fear. He wasn't planning on being the brave one this time, and definitely not to his best friend's crazy brother.

"None of us want to use her! We're her friends…and friends don't use each other…" Feliciano shivered, holding the stick in his hands. "We don't want her to be in any harm…"

_**["Don't lie to the world. **__**You**__** out of all people are the most controlling bitch I can't stand!"]**_

"W-what?"

_**["**__**You're**__** the one who begs for other people to save you! **__**You're**__** the one who can't fight for himself! What kind of person calls himself a nation and can't even lift a gun in defense?"]**_ He scoffed. _**["You use everyone and get rid of them when you can't use them anymore…you're just like Hitler."]**_

Feliciano froze in place, making Ludwig's blood boil. The whole place went pitch black before hearing a scream and finally seeing that Rizal had pinned Feliciano to the wall. People started charging toward him.

_**["You don't deserve the title of Italy…"]**_

"…_n-no…Rizal, please-"_

A huge blast shot Rizal out of the way, and he turned to see a glaring Ludwig staring at him, his Persona hovering in behind him. He shot forward and punched Rizal in the arm, hearing a sizzle and a scream before he was pummeled to the ground, hearing another loud sizzle. He hovered in the air, revealing that the arm Ludwig had hit and the leg Rizal used to get him out of the way was sizzling as if it was on fire, and the Shadow's blood was boiling toward the floor. He was trying desperately to fix the wounds.

_**["Shit…! Why does it hurt so much?"]**_

"What in the world…?" Alfred held his guns in place. "Hey, is it possible for Shadows to be allergic to something?"

"No…" Arthur rubbed his chin, clearly confused. "But…a Shadow is supposed to be the true form of a human consciousness…usually the horrible part of the mind."

"Then Ludwig…?"

"Hate and love are two contrasts that can't touch or else one will suffer." He blinked. "Wait a minute…"

Charice turned toward Ludwig, who was finally realizing just what was going on. He turned back to Rizal, whose wounds seemed to be getting worse every time he was looking at the German. If a Shadow is nothing more than a ball of dark secrets, and love _(any forms of it, apparently)_ can burn it from the inside…

"My brother…" Charice blinked. "My brother…loves Ludwig?"

**/=+=/**

**Way to go, Charice. It took you 100 chapters and over five stories for you to get it.**


	101. Determination

**/= "Long Flash Back" by Dragon Ball Z=/**

"He…?"

The whole room had no idea what to say, staring at the Shadow as he started rubbing off the peeling darkness from the burnt skin. Ludwig started rubbing the back of his head, words failing him as always, wondering if he could save Rizal himself…without the fighting…without this useless fighting.

"So that's why…"

Everyone turned toward Feliciano, who was holding his weapon loosely in his fingertips and looking down at the tip of the staff. In that pose, he actually looked older than his real age…almost like he was Francis' age. For some reason, that creped a few people out.

"That's why you attacked me."

"Feli…?"

"He was jealous of me…because I loved Ludwig as well." He blushed. "I never thought he would be the jealous type, though…"

"_Kuya…"_ Charice looked at him up above.

The entire time, he was scrubbing the peeling skin to the point where they could actually see blood oozing down on them. After a few minutes, he was finally done with doing so, the eyes finally glowing back into the bright red that they were always. He almost looked like a child at this point.

"_**This…this is all I wanted."**_

"Eh?"

"_**I just wanted someone who could…who could stay with me…and not be hurt…anymore…"**_

Feliciano held onto his weapon.

"_**You're not for him…you're weak and useless, hiding behind others just because someone scares you!"**_ Rizal glared at him. _**"You're not worthy of having Ludwig's heart! You're not worthy of living in this world of war and darkness!"**_

"I don't deserve anything, Rizal…he loves me, and I love him…and no one can change that!" Feliciano lifted up his weapon against him. "I don't care that I'm probably not the perfect man for him…or that I'm useless…and that all I do is cry and run to him when I'm scared…"

"_Feli…"_

"Still, I'm trying to be better. I'm getting stronger, so that I don't hurt him anymore…that I don't hurt anyone…" Feliciano braced himself. "You made me cry…no one here is going to forgive you."

Rizal said nothing, charging forward and going into a one-on-one duel with the Italian possessed by his Persona. To their surprise, he was holding himself up rather well. He was deflecting as much as he can with only a staff and his powers, it became apparent how powerful a G8 nation really was in comparison to another normal nation.

"_**How are you getting faster? You're supposed to be a pathetic piece of life!"**_

"I am a nation, Rizal, one of the most powerful! And I know when I'm the only one who can fight back against you!"

Before their eyes, Feliciano started sprouting wings _(the same type of wings his Shadow had…creepy)_ and started shooting feathers at him. The ground started shaking with tremors and cracked under the pressure. It took both Lovino and Gilbert to get Antonio's body out of the way before the world fell apart. It was almost as if the eternal battle of good versus evil was going to end by these two's hands.

They both shot into the air, going into an air duel filled with kicks and bullets. Feliciano kept throwing lightning and Rizal tried his best to blind the Italian, but both of them were too fast for any of them to hit. Some of the scenery down below started to cave in, however.

"_**UWAAAA! Watch what you're flinging, da ze!"**_

"Wow…" Charice blinked. "I never saw Feliciano so dedicated before…"

"I sure have…Jesus, he's scary!" Alfred stared at the continuing battle. "But it just means he has found a purpose that he wants to fight for."

"_A purpose…"_

"Sometimes, you have to fight loved ones to protect your friends…other times it's vice versa." The American sighed. "That's what war is about…"

"But what will happen to kuya once this is over…?" Charice turned to him. "He killed Antonio! No one's going to trust him anymore!"

"There will always be a way…and a hero always finds one…"

Charice looked down, trying to figure out what he meant. A scream echoed out, and Feliciano was tossed against the wall, covered with blood. Rizal's hands sharpened and charged toward his eyes, intent on gouging them all out. In a flash, Ludwig had jumped in front of him, blade in hand, and Rizal's blades were an inch away from his face. A glint flashed from the corner of his eye, and he jumped back to see Charice attack him with her poleaxe.

"_**Ate…"**_

"_I never wanted to fight you…but I also know that I will fight whoever hurts my friends…"_ She lifted up her poleaxe. "And I know that you know better than that, so obviously I have to beat you to enlightenment!"

"_C-Charice…"_

"It's all right, Feli-chan…he knew that this day was going to come." She planted it in the ground. "He knew that he was targeting my friends…he knew that he was going to try and kill them…I even think he cemented this when he killed Ludwig, the man he loved…which I still don't understand, by the way."

"_**He got in the way…I always get rid of what's in the way!"**_

"You haven't gotten rid of me! And I'm always in the way! Why's that?" She growled. "You looked up to him! I see you every day talking to him! From what I can gather, you were trying to be happy in any way you can…so why did you kill him?"

"…_**I…I had to…I HAD TO!"**_

"Eh?"

Rizal lunged forward and slashed, nicking Charice's leg and sending her spinning, clearing the way for Li Xiao and Kiku to counterattack. They were able to nick the bits of Shadow from his flesh before he turned and grabbed Li Xiao's neck.

"_**NO!"**_

The Chinese man made no movement to fight back, only reaching up to hold his face before his true form exploded, sending Rizal back. Yong Soo openly screamed as his hands created multiple blades from his fingers.

"_**I thought I told you all that I'm the only one who can handle him."**_ Li Xiao stood up, his face vanishing into a blank mask. _**"I know you're ready, Rizal."**_

"_**Another one like me…heh, never thought this would happen."**_ He stood up. _**"I wanted you to at least be happy with ate…but if you're going to get in the way then I WILL HAVE TO KILL YOU!"**_


	102. The End is Neigh Upon Thee

**/= "Ortion Cavern" by Tales of the Abyss =/**

The fight between the two Shadows nearly destroyed the already unstable world that they were in. Li Xiao was breaking the ground while Rizal spinning through the air. No one was safe, no matter where they are. Poor Yong Soo was thrown in the air so many times that Ludwig had to literally mix his feet into the ground _(which he immediately undid because even the ground wasn't stable enough)_. Charice had no idea how to help him…any of them.

"This is a Shadow's battle now." Kiku answered. "There is nothing we can do at this moment."

"_At this moment…?"_

"There's a good chance we'll have to intervene." He stated, rubbing his head in confusion. "But I don't understand…Li Xiao was a Shadow as well? Like your brother?"

"I didn't believe it either, but he is…" Charice stared at the battle, which had stabilized just a little bit. "Maybe they were made similarly?"

"Similarly?"

"Rizal mentioned something about being made by my blood…when Antonio attacked me." She looked up as Alfred decided to counter attack for the hell of it, failing horribly. Matthew ran to his aid. "I still have the scar on my hand…and I remember the arm not being able to work properly for a while."

Kiku froze.

"The scar doesn't hurt anymore, and I've heard more than enough apologies from Antonio, so- Kiku? What's wrong?"

**/= "Eternal Three" by HetaOni =/**

_It was a day Kiku could never really forget. He had just declared independence from his mentor, and it meant that he had to sever his familial ties with him forever. That was the thought that went through his head as he approached his mentor's house, the moon hovering over him. The rabbit was pounding rice cakes, he remembered him saying…_

_There he was. His mentor, just standing there…almost as if he knew that he was going to come._

"_Ah, Japan. What are you doing at this late of night, aru?" His mentor smiled. It was always so childish…almost oblivious. "I have just made Zongzi, aru! Come in."_

_Zongzi. He liked that. The earliest memory he could recall at the moment was being able to eat at least fifteen of them before collapsing from stomach pain. His mentor would not leave his side at that moment on, caring for the young nation, at to that day he would not permit him to eat anything over eight. He wanted zongzi as well, of course._

"…_forgive me…"_

_He held his blade firmly._

"_Eh? Why are you holding such a dangerous thing, aru?"_

_He lifted up the handle._

"_W…why are you pointing it at me, aru!" He was scared…just as he wanted him to be. "Japan, stop it aru!"_

_The blade was now out of the sheath._

"_W-what are you…__**GAAAAAAAH!"**_

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

_The blood…the blood was fresh…pouring over the wooden floors and onto the earth that was underneath him. Without a second thought, he turned and walked away, leaving his mentor to bleed. Meanwhile, the rabbit continued to make its daily bunch of rice cakes._

**/= "All Faith is Lost" by HetaOni =/**

_That moment…it had to be that moment…_ Kiku slid to his knees. _I created Li Xiao…I must have…_

"K-Kiku?" Charice grabbed his shoulders. "Why the hell are _**you**_ freaking out at a time like this? Hey! **HEY!"**

"…g-gomen." He stood up. "I think I understand what makes them different from other Shadows."

"Eh?"

The ground quickly shook in a panic, and Charice clung onto Kiku for support as she turned her head and saw Li Xiao in the ground, unmoving. She started screaming and dashing toward him as Lovino and Gilbert took his place, summoning their Persona and charged back to Rizal. Matthew stood back and started shooting him with his rifle, leaving the monster to continue attacking. Charice turned to Kiku.

"Hey, Kiku-chan!" She screamed at him. "If you're gonna start blacking out, stay with Li Xiao!"

"H-hai!"

Kiku ran toward the fallen ally as Charice grabbed her poleaxe and charged into battle. The world slowly faded out of existence as he stared at the Shadow changing back into its human form, slowly sitting up and dusting off the dirt from his sleeve. Fresh blood leaked out into his arm.

"_Li Xiao…"_

"Heh…if only you can see the look on your face right now." Li Xiao sighed. _"Crap, I think I'm stuck here for now…"_

"…you…"

"I'm guessing you know how I came to be, huh?"

"During the Sino-Japanese War. I am right…right?"

"…after you left, Yao sat there for hours. He couldn't comprehend the fact that you left him. His boss had to drag him to his temple to stay during the war." He looked up. "It was then, I think…that I came into existence."

"From the wound on his back."

"It's rare for a Shadow to be able to escape the body that created it. It's unfathomable in terms of a human's creation, but for nations…with grudges that can last millennia…"

"So you were created…from a grudge toward me?"

"It wasn't a grudge…it was an intense feeling, deep inside of him." Li Xiao stood up. "I was created out of sadness…for the days he would never have again."

"So you know about Rizal's…?"

"He was created out of pain and anger." He answered. "The pain of her people and any shred of anger that she deemed a sin against God."

"She abandoned her hatred…like a true Catholic."

"And look where that left her."

The two Asians stood up and watched as the rest of the team charged the Shadow at once, missing and hitting each other once or twice. Kiku turned his head slightly to the side, seeing Li Xiao wipe the blood off his arm. The wound that was there was completely healed, startling him.

"Li Xiao…you said that you were the only one who could defeat Rizal."

"I was…partially right." He answered. "The only thing that can destroy Shadows are other Shadows, like a dog-eat-dog rule…the common way, really."

"There's another way?"

"Yeah, but…Rizal already got it out of the way."

Kiku stared at him in confusion before Li Xiao charged forward, deflecting five different bullets before roundhouse kicking Rizal in the face. He skidded down the road before crashing into one of the pillars, suddenly struck with decay. The Shadow rose to his feet, his skin peeling off in a strange purple color and revealing what looked like normal skin underneath…like a layer.

"_**You…bitch…"**_ He spat. _**"You are…**__**really**__** starting to piss me off…"**_

"Too bad!" Alfred lifted up his guns. "Eat lead, sucker!"

Charice didn't like the language at all, and she had to admit that she jumped when Alfred continued to fire at the vulnerable boy. The smoke cleared, and it was obvious that they had reached their target. Yet the man was still standing, like he was merely punched and not shot at.

"_**You can't kill me…none of you can kill me!"**_

"OK, he's being a bastard now!" Yong Soo stepped forward. "Can we punch him already?"

"You can do that…but then you'd be punching him forever."

Everyone turned their heads to see Li Xiao walking through the crowd, parting them as they saw the arm that was badly bloodied well and new…and in the shape of his Shadow's form. It made Rizal cringe a little, but nothing that no one couldn't handle. He stopped in front of Rizal.

"This Shadow has aged with time. Ordinary Personas aren't going to take him down." He stated. "We'll have to use better methods."

"_**Oh please…you don't know anything about me."**_

"I've been a Shadow longer than you, you know." Li Xiao stated. "And Shadows like us have weaknesses as well."

"_**Everything has a weakness…I got rid of them…"**_

"You got rid of one: destroying the one that created you." He stated. "You do realize that other Shadows like me can kill you as well."

"_**Please…you're nothing against me."**_

"_But…I am…"_

Everyone turned their heads in shock to see Antonio staggering back to his feet, holding his two-hand axe with one, covered with scars and blood, walking toward Rizal with a smile on his face. That alone was enough to unnerve the Shadow, staggering back in confusion.

"_**You…"**_

"_Of course…demons can be destroyed by their creator…"_ Antonio shook his head. _"But…why would I do that?"_

"_**What?"**_

"_Don't you remember, Rizal? All those times I tried to gain your forgiveness?"_

"_**You'll never…gain forgiveness…from me."**_

"…_not even if I beg?"_

"_**It would be interesting if you do, don't you?"**_

"…_I've…already begged."_

Lovino had to steady him, the axe falling down next to him. He was obviously in pain, but…why is he even talking when he should be recovering?

"_**It's interesting when you beg."**_

"…_your anger is blinding you from forgiveness…hasn't God told you to abandon your hatred to be enlightened?"_

"_**You're one to talk…forgiveness? After what you've done to my people?"**_

"_But you already know how to love?"_

"_**What?"**_

"_You already know how to love."_

Rizal stared at him in confusion before feeling someone grapple him from behind, turning his head in confusion to see that it was Ludwig. Instantly, his skin began to burn and he started screaming in pain. Still, Ludwig held on, his face clearly showing how disturbed he was at the man with his skin burning off. He clearly looked like he wanted to let go.

"_**NO!"**_

"What-?"

"_**Don't let go of me!"**_

"Rizal…"

"_**Don't…**_let…go!"

Ludwig watched with horror as Rizal grabbed his arms to keep them on him, watching as his skin started to peel off until he lost five years of his physical appearance. Soon, he collapsed on the ground, defeated, his skin and clothes lost like they were victims of a flame.

**/=+=/**

**Having fun there?**


	103. ThE pAsT rUnS tHe FuTuRe

**/= "Autum Leaves Dancing in the Heaven Far" by HetaOni =/**

_He really had to learn how to show restraint._

_Rizal dusted off his hands as he finally let Yong Soo go from the beating he clearly deserved. He thought that he would at least have some form of decency when it came to women, though he figured that he already learned his lesson (if not, Charice knew who to call). He decided to return to class, knowing that he already strayed too far from the room._

_**YoU cAnNoT rUn FrOm YoUr FaTe…**_

_He turned his head in confusion._

"_Hello?"_

_There was no response, alerting him to grab his yo-yo and head toward the sound. Rizal quietly peeked around the corner and saw nothing there, only the sunlight dripping in through the window panes. He sighed before heading back to class. For all he knew, it was Gilbert pulling something on him._

_**/=+=/**_

_**RuNiNg WiLl GeT yOu NoWhErE.**_

_Rizal rubbed the back of his head as he headed into the hallway, seriously wondering where the heck that voice was coming from. He decided that it was nothing and continued down the hallway, wondering if this school was possessed or something. Seeing as how one of the members is __Arthur__, he wouldn't put that choice away from him…_

"_Great, I'm going insane. That's just what I needed."_

_He turned a corner, and saw with surprise that there were a few doors that were Japanese oriented (maybe Kiku had something to do with it). He could barely hear someone inside one of the rooms, and for some reason he couldn't remember whose voice it was. Of course, logic calls to say that it had to be Kiku…_

_**LoGic? HaSn'T lOgIc FaIlEd YoU aLrEaDy?**_

_[Failed me? What is this thing talking about?]_

_**yOu KnOw WhAt I'm TaLkInG aBoUt.**_

_Rizal froze. This voice was reading his mind._

_**I kNoW eVeRyThInG tHaT yOu ThInK aNd BeLiEvE.**_

_[Please. I know you…spirit or whatever. You can't possibly know everything.]_

_**oH, i KnOw.**_

_Rizal looked up in confusion and saw that there was a figure standing in front of one of the doors. He wasn't there before, and due to the lack of a shadow he isn't really there. The Filipino quietly stepped forward and froze as the figure turned and stared at him in faint surprise. It was Ludwig._

_**I tOlD yOu. I aLrEaDy KnOw EvErYtHiNg.**_

_[You know nothing about me.]_

_**oH? tHeN wHo Is He To YoU?**_

_[He is just a friend of mine.]_

_**dO nOt LiE tO mE.**_

_[Or what? What can you possibly do to me?]_

_**i CaN dO mAnY tHiNgS tO yOu.**_

_[Like what, haunt me? I can get Arthur to get rid of you in a flash.]_

_**YoU wAnT a TaStE oF mY pOwEr…DoN't YoU?**_

_[What do you mean?]_

_**OpEn YoUr EyEs.**_

_[My eyes are o-]_

_Rizal blinked, and he found himself in one of the rooms, staring at the front of an internal shrine. His hands felt wet when he rubbed his fingers together, and he looked down in confusion, freezing. It was red with blood. He darted his head around and saw a body lying down on the ground, his neck cut open._

"…_Kiku…"_

_**YoU dId ThIs.**_

"_No I didn't."_

_**YoU dId ThIs.**_

"_No I didn't…"_

_**YoU'rE hApPy AbOuT tHiS. tHiS iS aLl ThIs BaStArD dEsErVeD.**_

"…_he…he slaughtered my people…"_

_**yOuR aNgEr NeEdS tO bE fReEd. LeT iT gO.**_

_He held the blade firmly in his fingertips…and took a deep breath._

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

_The fact that he had that moment terrified the young boy. What made everything even weirder was the fact that Kiku showed up for class a few hours later, not even lightly worried about anything. He didn't even turn to look at the murderer in the eye, almost as if he was judging him…or it never happened._

_[I never killed Kiku…that never happened…I must've…I must've had a moment or something. Yeah, that's a good thought.] Rizal nodded. [It's just a daydream I had, nothing real. Huh…never thought I would have such a fucked up mind. But growing up with sadists, I guess I'm not that surprised.]_

_With that, he was at ease._

**/=+=/**

_Arthur never asked for help. It just wasn't in his nature…or blood…or pride, or something. Whatever it was, he needed help and had asked Rizal for it. The Filipino had to admit that everything sounded a little sketchy from the get-go, but he gave up trying to think about it as he waited at the edges of the lake for him to arrive. Maybe he'll be able to help him with the creepy voice that's stalking him._

_**i'M nOt StAlKiNg YoU. i Am YoU.**_

_[Which part of me, then? Identify yourself, if you're not scared of me.]_

_**i Am ThE tRuE yOu…ThE oNe YoU oH sO dIlIgEnTlY tUcKeD aWaY.**_

_[Bloodlust…] Of course…he hadn't gotten into a war anytime soon. His commanders always knew him as the man that loved the smell of blood. [That was the old me.]_

_**tHeRe Is No SuCh ThInG aS oLd AnD nEw, RiZaL. tHeRe Is OnLy OnE oF yOu.**_

_[And that "one" me is not a psychopath or a serial killer. Now stop giving me bad daydreams before I have to deal with you personally.]_

_**Oh? HoW wOuLd YoU dO tHaT?**_

_[My friend is a mage skilled in the black arts. I can get him to send whoever the hell you are to the depths of hell, old me or not.]_

_**yOuR fRiEnD? yOu MeAn ThE oNe YoU jUsT kILlEd?**_

_Rizal lifted his hand in accusation before he realized that his fingers were covered with blood, all over again. He blinked in shock before turning his head down and seeing that Arthur was there, bloody and lifeless beside him. He nearly screamed and backed away at the massacre that was next to him._

_**YoU'rE mInE nOw.**_

_He didn't even bother to listen to him. Before he knew it, he had thrown the body into the river, unable to look at him directly. These deaths were starting to become more and more violent, more and more real. This had to be another dream…of course this has to be a dream…hopefully, he gets to see him later._

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"_Hey, Rizal."_

_All he had to do was take a deep sigh of relief, turning his head around to see Arthur standing behind him with a rather peeved look on his face, wearing his costume for the upcoming musical (which, to tell you the truth, made him look adorable). Rizal turned around and smiled._

"_You look nice."_

"_Don't flatter me, Rizal."_

"_Why? Alfred telling you that too many times?"_

"_Will you-? Besides, what happened back there?"_

_He froze._

"_You didn't meet me at the park!"_

_Oh. Right. Thank god it wasn't real. "Something came up, so I had to take it…you make it sound like I stood up you up on a date or something."_

"_We are __not__ dating! I just happened to have a boyfriend!"_

"_When? A few seconds ago?"_

_Arthur started stammering for a few minutes before saying something illegible and stomping away. Rizal blinked for a few minutes before turning his head around and seeing Ludwig talking to Li Xiao and Ion about a few things he wanted to work on in the show. He looked rather nice in his outfit…brave…masculine…of course, it's not like he wanted him that much or anything._

_**ThAt'S rIgHt. SiNk DeEpEr InTo YoUr SoRrOwS.**_

_[Shut it. You're throwing illusions at me. No big deal.]_

_**WhAt MaKeS yOu ThInK tHaT yOu'Re JuSt DrEaMiNg?**_

_[You show me killing someone. I meet up with them a few hours later, not even aware of what happened. I know what you're trying to do: making me think that I'm going insane. It's not going to work. I'm no longer under your spell, bastard.]_

_**WhAt If YoU'rE jUsT dReAmInG tHiS mOmEnT?**_

_Rizal wondered what he meant before he blinked. Instantly, he was in his room, covered with sweat and shadows. He darted up, looking around in confusion. The time on his clock read 3:27 AM. He looked outside the window in confusion. Just a few seconds ago, he was in the lobby…this had to be a dream…_

"…_the sheets are real…" He looked down. "What the hell are you planning?"_

_**i Do NoT pLaN. i AlReAdY wOn.**_

_**/=+=/**_

"_Oi, Rizal! What brings you to the lovely little creek down the river?"_

"_I walk when I'm bored, Gilbert. That's more than I can say about you."_

_The albino Prussian can only cackle with laughter as Rizal stood there wondering just how in the world this man could be related to Ludwig in any way. Then again, it wasn't as if they were TOTALLY related with their older counterparts. He certainly wasn't related to Antonio even though he took them over._

"_Don't you have plans or something?"_

"_Please. Someone as awesome as me gets plans thrown on me!" Gilbert waved his hands around. "We have that rehearsal later, though."_

_Rehearsals. Right. That means that he can go ahead and see Ludwig again. Well, not really. They are friends, after all. He folded his hands and muttered to himself, wondering if all this suffering was even worth it. He only had a crush on Ludwig because he was muscular and good-looking. Don't they all love him because of that? Geez, how shallow could he get? He really needed to get over it._

"_Hey, Rizal. You worried about something?"_

"_Eh?" He looked at him. "No…well, maybe about a few projects, but nothing too major. Why?"_

"_No? Because it looked like yOu WeRe A __**lItTlE tEnSe ThErE."**_

_He froze. _

"_I'm…I'm not tense."_

"_**nO? dOn'T lIe To Me. yOu'Ve BeEn TeNsE tHiS eNtIrE tImE. yOu'Re HiDiNg SoMeThInG, aReN't YoU?"**_

"_I'm not hiding __anything!__"_

"_**KeSeSeSeSe! I kNoW yOu'Re HiDiNg SoMeThInG! wAs It WhEn YoU kIlLeD kIkU iN cOlD bLoOd? Or WhEn ArThUr dIeD wItH yOuR hAnDs ArOuNd HiS nEcK?"**_

"_What the hell are you talking about? Those things never happened!"_

"_**tHeY hApPeNeD! i WaS tHeRe, YoU kNoW!"**_

_That was it. He was clearly going crazy. Gilbert was saying something so demented that there was no way that he could say these things, even if he was a nutjob in the first place. Hell, he was probably wondering what the hell Rizal was going on about. He had to clear his name before he goes nuts._

"_I-I'm going crazy, Gilbert. I'm hearing voices."_

"_**vOiCeS? i'M oFfEnDeD tHaT yOu WoUlD pUsH yOuR tRuE sElF sO lOw!"**_

"_I've been hearing them this entire time…I don't know what's going on, but leave. Before I do something…"_

_**BeFoRe? YoU aLrEaDy DiD.**_

_Rizal blinked in confusion before he realized that he was in the woods, his fingers covered with blood and holding onto a nearby tree. He looked up in confusion and nearly screamed at what was there: writing. Before he could say anything, he heard voices coming up from behind him. He quickly turned around and ran, not once looking back._

_**/=+=/**_

_The voice never came back, which was good enough. Rizal couldn't help but worry when he didn't see Gilbert during the rehearsal, but when he wandered into his dormitory and saw him royally plastered with his other friends, he couldn't help but sigh. He was going insane for no reason, and the last time he thought about getting help, he killed him too. Somewhat._

_That day, he decided that he wasn't going to worry about it that much. It was going to be a normal day as always. His psychotic moment has finally left him, and he can just go back to being an ordinary student at a rather nutcasey school. _

_Speaking of nutcasey, wasn't that Francis escorting Charice?_

_The look on his face was more than enough for Francis to know that this was the farthest that he was going to escort her. He blew her a kiss (which she cringed at) and walked away, as she finally went to join him._

"…_Francis didn't touch you?"_

"_No, not really. It's shocking, really."_

_He knew that was an understatement, but it was nothing that he could really take into account. As he and his sister continued to walk down the hallway, they saw Ludwig walking toward them, clearly tired. Before he knew it, he was escorting Ludwig back to the dormitory. Him. Alone. With Ludwig. That alone made his head burn._

"_You really should be sleeping more, Ludwig." He mentioned as casually as he could. "The last thing you need to do is collapse on something."_

"_I'm sorry…I just have so much to do, no time to rest…"_

"_Seriously, now? Work over personal being? Even I think that is nuts."_

_**yOu'Re OnE tO tAlK. iNsAnItY iS aLl YoU aRe.**_

_Rizal cringed. The last thing he needed was for that psychotic voice to come back. Oddly enough, the voice was quieted down, like it was muffled. Like the presence of Ludwig himself was the one that was keeping the voices away. He was glad that he was here then…just to get them all away._

_**I cAn GeT hIm AwAy FrOm YoU.**_

_[I'm not leaving him, you jackass.]_

_**yOu HaVe No ChOiCe.**_

_Before he knew it, he heard a scream that snapped him back to reality. Rizal's eyes blinked, and he saw with shock that Ludwig was on the ground, a knife dug deep into his stomach and his hands still holding onto it. The Filipino's eyes widened to the point where his fingers quickly pried themselves off and he threw himself back._

"_W-what…what the hell happened?"_

_**YoU kIlLeD hIm, Of CoUrSe.**_

"_No…I couldn't have done this…YOU did this! Not me!"_

"_R-Rizal…"_

"…_oh my god…" Ludwig was still alive? __Seriously?__ "I didn't do this, I swear!"_

_**He WaS uNhEaLtHy, RiZaL. hE mUsT bE eLiMiNaTeD.**_

"_I don't give a fuck what you're telling me anymore! Don't you dare hurt him anymore! __**I WON'T LET YOU HURT HIM!"**_

_**sO nAiVe, RiZaL. yOu HaVe No ChOiCe.**_

"_Why not? Ludwig is in my reality, you fuck!"_

_**BeCaUsE i'M yOu…AnD i AlReAdY wOn.**_

_Five seconds later, he found himself in front of another murdered body. Rizal paused for a minute before realizing with horror that it was Feliciano, eyes wide open and looking like he had been killed right in the middle of a scream. Something was wet and squishy in his hands, and his mouth felt full, and he turned his head to his hand…and screamed._

_**YeS…yOu LiKe ThE tAsTe Of A mAn'S hEaRt In LoVe, RiGhT?**_

"_You made me eat his __**heart!**__ What kind of sick fuck-?"_

_**tHaT iS oNlY tHe FiRsT oF mAnY.**_

"_What are you…?"_

_**i Am YoU…yOu ArE a FaIlUrE.**_

_**aNd I aM fReE.**_

…

…

…

…

…

…

..

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"I…I understand now, Rizal…if only a little bit…"

All Ludwig had to do was open his eyes, and the nightmare was over for him.


	104. A Hard Choice

**/= "The Decision of Love" by HetaOni =/**

Ludwig looked around as reality sank back into his mind. All of the murder victims were looking at each other as if they had seen it too, and were turning back to a fallen Rizal in Ludwig's arms. He no longer looked like the sixteen-year-old that they had known. Instead, he looked twelve…Peter's age, if not younger. He was crying in his arms, not looking at anyone.

"_Rizal…"_

"_Don't…look at me…"_ He sobbed. _"I'm a monster…"_

"_Rizal…"_

"_I'm a Shadow, remember? I'm not supposed to be pitied."_

Ludwig looked up and lightly hugged him, catching a squeak of surprise from his other counterpart. Everyone watched him squirm for a while before quickly giving up and slumped, leaving him in the German's arms. All Ludwig could do was watch the twelve-year-old sit there in a blank stare, quietly taking it all in. Meanwhile, the other murder victims were rubbing their foreheads.

"_I…I remember everything now…"_ Kiku looked up.

"_He had that weird voice underneath his own…I thought that was weird."_ Arthur looked at everyone. "Why did I forget that voice?"

"He was calling out to me the entire time." Gilbert spat. _"Shit…if only I was able to remember what he told me…"_

"V-ve…I didn't want to remember him eating my heart…"

"He _**WHAT?**__**"**_ Lovino darted his head to his brother. "Is that why-?"

Charice didn't say anything, staring at Ludwig as he held the little boy in his arms. For a long time, she could remember holding him in her arms when he was young…when he was crying…when he needed someone to be with him…even when he said otherwise…

"_Why didn't you say anything?"_

"_Say anything about what?"_

"…_this…about me…"_

"_Please, and bother you more than you already were? I didn't need you to think about me over the more important things in your life."_

"_Rizal…"_

"_I know you. You were in love with Feliciano…well, crushing on him…for much longer than I was with you. I would've been wasting both of our time."_

"_You wouldn't be."_

"_Yes I would, especially once you started going out with him. If I had said anything, you would've rejected me outright, but Feliciano would've seen us. He would've started accusing you, you two would end up in a fight, and it would all be my fault, so what's the point…"_

"Rizal…you are never a waste of my time." Ludwig turned him around so they made eye contact. His eyes were no longer a bright gold, but a normal brown…like his sister. "A friend is never a waste of my time."

The only thing the Filipino could do was smile at his words, finally letting the notion of him never being alone sink into his system. Suddenly, there was a low growl underneath the cold wind. Everyone froze as the little boy lowered his head and held his arms.

**I'vE wOn ThIs MaTcH. yOu ArE pOwErLeSs AgAiNsT mE.**

"It's you…!" Ludwig backed up. "Get out of Rizal!"

**yOu CaNnOt GeT rId Of Me. fOr I aM tHe TrUe RiZaL, tHe BoY yOu CaLl "FrIeNd". If I lEaVe, He DiEs.**

"You cur-!"

"He's right…you can't get rid of him…"

Rizal rose to his feet, the Shadow starting to swarm again over his body. It was starting to pile on him like the fraying skin it was during the battle. Charice had to say that it was rather disturbing to look at.

"Whatever I am…this voice is just a part of me. If I try to suppress it, it will only come back and hurt more people." Rizal stated. "I have to get rid of it…"

"But…"

"It's all right, Ludwig. I know you care, but there are some things you can't avoid."

**MuSt YoU aCcEpT dEaTh So EaSiLy?**

"Only one person can kill me, and it is not you, Li Xiao. If you do, this voice may rub on you and you will share the same fate."

"What are you saying here?" Gilbert stepped forward. "Are you even debating this?"

"I have to die…and Antonio has to be the one to kill me."

Everyone's eyes turned to the startled Spaniard, who was still weakened from his wounds and was obviously shaking. Charice knew that ever since the two of them had become friends, all Antonio wanted to do was to gain forgiveness from her younger brother. Now, to be given a burden as heavy as _this…_

"_I…I can't do this…"_

"You have to, Antonio. You already know that you do."

"_But…I can't…I can't kill my own son…"_

"I'm not your son. I was never your sibling. I was never supposed to exist." Rizal stated. "The closer I strayed toward humanity, the bigger the monster became. You're the only one who can destroy that monster."

Antonio was shaking.

"I'm not going to hold it against you, Antonio."

"_**Don't you dare do it!"**_ Charice screamed. "Don't you dare kill my brother! There has to be another way!"

**YeS, lEt ThE pAiN aNd SaDnEsS oVeRtAkE yOu AlL.**

"Don't force him to choose so casually!" Lovino spat. "Antonio doesn't have a mind that can comprehend big shit like this!"

"We can save him! We don't have to do this!"

"Charice is right, isn't she?" Feliciano asked. "We can stop this?"

"We could rip the voice out of him, but that will kill him all the same." Arthur rubbed his head. "And if we try any restraint method, Rizal will just go rabid again."

"Li Xiao, what did you do?" Charice crawled to him. "What did you do to save yourself? You're a Shadow too, aren't you?"

"…I never let my emotions run my course of action." He answered. "It was all over when Rizal fell in love."

"What…?"

"This voice…it comes from the friction between the emotion of anger that runs him, and the emotion of love he had for Ludwig." Li Xiao stated. "He didn't know how to balance them, and the machine is dying…"

**bReAk AlL tHe ChAiNs ThAt HeLd YoU tOgEtHeR.**

"So…there's no…?"

Antonio was looking down at his hands, tightening around the axe he proudly held, the one that ripped open Charice's arm and started all this. He was the one who created the Shadow. He was the one that caused Rizal to suffer. Why wasn't he being the one blamed for this…?

"ArE yOu PrOuD oF wHaT yOu CrEaTeD, aNtOnIo?" Rizal smiled. "ThIs AbOmInAtIoN sHe LoVeD?"

"…" He hated the demented voice.

"kIlL mE, sAvE tHe WoRlD aNd LoSe AnY fRiEnDsHiP wItH hEr. DoN't KiLl Me, AnD tHe WoRlD wIlL bE mY pLaYgRoUnD."

The Spaniard was shaking at this point, unable to figure out what he was going to do. He had only recently regained her trust, a moment that cleared his consciousness for good. Could he really do it all again? What was the risk he was going to take?

He clenched his eyes shut, tears flowing from his cheeks, and with all his strength lifted his axe and tore right through his back.

**/=+=/**

Ludwig and Charice quickly ran to the fallen Filipino as Antonio stepped back, hands shaking and fresh blood on his fingertips. The Filipina was hysterical, screaming for him to wake up. Meanwhile, the Shadow that was around his body dissipated into the air.

"Kuya? _**Kuya!**_ Please, talk to me!"

"…_why are you so hysterical?"_

Everyone froze. Rizal's real voice was gone. It was now Charice's, demented a little bit…like any normal Shadow would have.

"_This is for the best."_

"No it's not! You do not have to die like this!"

"_What? You were the person that told me that every action has a justifiable excuse. Why not now?"_

She was crying and shaking her head.

"_Don't blame Antonio. He had to do this. If I went loose, you would all be victims."_

"There could've been a better way…"

"_Life isn't always going to be good for you, ate…"_ He turned to Ludwig. _"Protect her, please?"_

"…I will."

Rizal's body dissipated, hovering over her body and transforming into a small cherub angel with a flowing robe. The wings on his back were small, barely able to support its own weight, and it looked almost like a baby Rizal. It vanished, transforming into a card that sank into Charice's skin.

"_A Persona…"_ Matthew shivered.

Ludwig heard a thud next to him, and he turned his head to see a small bronze object on the floor. Confused, he went to pick it up, seeing familiar lettering in the surface. It was the Christmas gift that he had given him. By the shine and how long it had been, he must've treated it with care.

With a light sigh, he leaned in and kissed the top.


	105. Brother My Brother

**/= "3****rd**** Movement; The Truth" by HetaOni =/**

The whole group was silent for a while, unable to comprehend what they had just seen. Charice quietly stood up, tears flowing from her eyes, and Arthur watched in shock as the tarot cards resembling her Persona shot out of her body, hovering around her in a strange halo.

"_What in the…?"_

By the look on Alfred's face, he had seen this too. Arthur watched in surprise as the cards hovered to Alfred, absorbing them into his body before he achieved a light glow. The American stared at the Englishman in confusion, clearly translating.

"_Um…_I know a bit about the Wild Card and all, but…" He blinked. "Has anyone ever _**lost**_ their Wild Card status?"

"…not that I know of."

Everyone turned back to Charice, who was still trying to wipe the tears out of her eyes. Li Xiao, Kiku and Yong Soo quietly stepped forward to console her, and jumped back when she swung them away. She was screaming something in Tagalog, no one could understand what she was saying…until she started attacking Antonio.

"_**You killed him! You fucking **__**killed**__** him!"**_ She screamed. "We could've saved him! You didn't have to do this!"

"Hey, back up!" Lovino grabbed her. "He had to, alright? He was the murderer, we had to make sure the voice thing didn't take him over again!"

"**We could've freed him! He was a nation, he would've lived!"**

Charice was near hysterics, screaming and cursing out the Spaniard that had done the deed, like all the time they had to heal their scars meant nothing anymore. Antonio couldn't even look at her anymore, staring blankly at the floor in front of him before succumbing to his injuries. He collapsed to the floor, and Matthew panicked, running to give him aid.

"_**Leave him! Leave him there to die, the murderer!"**_

"Charice, get your head out of the clouds!" Lovino screamed. "If we kept him alive, he would've murdered us all and god knows how many people!"

"**I don't fucking care! Get rid of the whole world, so it's just the two of us! I don't care if we're the only nations on the planet, **I just _want him…alive…"_

"We really need to get her out of here. I seriously didn't think her mind was this unstable…" Arthur shook his head. "Yong Soo, do you know where the portal you entered through was?"

"It's over here, da ze!" He ran to a certain section of the wall. "Francis, open it up, pronto! We have a problem here!"

"_**It's already open."**_

"All right, get her through."

**/=+=/**

Charice was kicking and screaming the entire time she was removed from that world, much to the surprise of those who were on the other side. Roderich and Erika had to help Lovino keep her down, and it took the entire team to escort her out of the room. She was drained of all her energy, so she drooped like she was a rag doll.

"_I can't believe that the death of a sibling would do something like this to her…"_

Matthew stayed back, staring at Francis as he was the last one to leave the room and to make sure that Charice wouldn't do something rash and return back to her realm. The Canadian rubbed the back of his head and wondered for a while if everything that had happened to her this entire time had such an effect. Maybe it was the fact that she had been seeing all of their inner demons that she didn't know how to handle her own…?

"_It's so strange…they were so close, but I never thought she would go this crazy. She's like a grieving widow."_ He murmured. _"Poor Charice…"_

"No one should lose a brother."

He froze and turned around, seeing a rather traumatized Alfred staring back at him. His back was to the still-open portal, which tried to hide the fact that the American's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. He was clearly trying to figure out how to handle what had just happened back in that world.

"She didn't deserve any of this."

"_No, she didn't. No one deserves it."_ Matthew looked at him. _"But I never thought she would act as rabid as this…"_

"…I really can't blame her at this point."

"_Alfred?"_

"Think about it, dude. She was a nation thrown around by superpowers like me. It was at the point in her life that she could not trust anyone **but** him. Rizal was the only thing in this world she could ever truly believe in: he will not betray her, she will not betray him." He sounded so old. "Now the only thing she believes in is gone, taken by the one man he spent his entire life loathing…"

"_I just can't believe that a friendship like that could be shattered so easily…"_

"Yeah…" He looked at his brother. "What would you do?"

"_What?"_

"If I was murdered in cold blood. What would you do?"

"_I-I would be mad, of course! And I'd want to find out who did it to you!"_

"Even if it was your best friend who killed me?"

Matthew stood there for a minute, wondering just what he was trying to say here. Alfred was a very violent nation, filled with people willing to go through gun fights and war, while he himself was rather peaceful and more willing to compromise than anything else. Still, the thought of his brother, dead…

"_I…I don't know what I would do."_

"Good. Let's hope it stays that way."

The Canadian froze as the American quietly hugged him, saying no word and making no sound. It was strange having his brother give him so much attention like this: nonviolent, non…_**Alfred**_, non-HIM. It was almost as if he was talking to a ghost himself.

"You should never learn how to cope with the loss of a brother." Alfred preached. "And please…Matthew…please don't ever change…"

"…_I…I won't, brother."_

**/=+=/**

Gilbert had lost him once they were able to get Charice into her room, and the Prussian began to wonder where he was. He walked around the school campus for a few minutes before he finally found him. He was looming over the hills of the campus, his hands holding onto the Christmas gift that he had given the younger boy.

"Yo! Bruder! You're gonna get cold standing out here for this long of a time!" Gilbert stated. "Brood inside, back where it's warm!"

"…_I could've saved him."_

"Eh?"

"Rizal. I could've saved him if I had seen it sooner." He sighed. "I could've stopped all of this."

"Dude, if anyone had to regret this, it would've been me." Gilbert pointed at himself. "He **knew** he was going insane, and had actually told me about everything. If it hadn't been for the fact that someone erased my memories of everything…"

"They all had their memories erased of when they died, didn't they…"

"Yes…man, that voice thing really knew how to cover his tracks. If it hadn't been for the fact that he became too brash, we would've never known it was him." Gilbert sighed. "Unless it _**wanted**_ us to find out."

"Gilbert."

"Hah?"

"I'm losing too many friends…it's terrifying."

"Heh? Who else are you losing here?"

"I almost lost Feliciano, I lost him…I might have lost everyone when we went into that world…" He looked at Gilbert, and for a few seconds he almost looked like Heilrich again. "I'm going to lose you."

"Please, no one's losing the awesome Prussia!" Gilbert grinned. "Can your worries, cause I'm here forever!"

"But…you're a nation that no longer exists. Whatever's running you now is going to run out…and I'm going to…"

Ludwig actually started to cry, freaking out Gilbert to the point of a mental breakdown. It was then that he realized that he, in all his awesomeness, forgot to mention to him that their condition was similar to that of the Italians _(half a nation instead of a whole)_. He was about to bring it up when the German clung onto his older brother, nearly squeezing the life out of him.

"_Don't go…"_ He sounded so young. _"Don't leave me…"_

That was the problem with Ludwig: he didn't know how to make any friends, and the ones he ends up getting he holds too close to himself. The last time he cried, he was only a little brother in his arms, confused at the world around him. He decided to tell him later and held him gently.

"I'm never leaving you, Ludwig. I'm always going to be here."

**/=+=/**

Lovino walked down the hallways of the school, heading toward the tomato garden that Antonio had been tending to. He really needed a quiet place to think, and wanted to desperately get rid of Charice's crazy thrashing out of his head. He always knew that she was a nutcase, but she was a level-headed nutcase…when not chasing down his brother.

"…che. That girl is crazy as shit. Why am I so confused…"

He felt someone grab his back, and he screamed in shock, turning his head only to see his younger brother sobbing quietly on his back. Lovino was confused for a few minutes before turning completely and shoving him off in annoyance.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"_Uwa…_Charice lost her brother…"

"Well, yeah…but there was a reason why."

"I-I know, but…it means that I can lose you too…"

Lovino looked around in shock, wondering if he should mention how the king wanted to get rid of him after the union of the empire. But before he could come to a conclusion, Feliciano sobbed even more and squeezed the life out of his older brother.

"Hey-! _**Get…off!"**_

"_No…I don't wanna…I don't wanna lose you…"_

He was getting annoyed at the fact that he was sniffling all over his jacket, but he couldn't help but understand what Feliciano was talking about. He quietly held him and looked outside the window just as the sun was setting over the New York horizon. This was supposed to be a time of peace _(in a national sense)_, where countries are not the enemy and hence have no risk of death. Besides, can't Rizal just come back to life…?

"You're not gonna lose me, stupid."

"I know…_I know…"_

It was then that he remembered when he saw Feliciano's body back when he was killed…massacred and slashed open like a pig, his face plastered with fear. Lovino's grip tightened on him, and he remembered that he was rather enraged when he learned that Rizal was the one who killed his brother. Maybe he and Charice weren't so different after all.

Unknown to them, Kiku was listening to them the entire time.

**/=+=/**

"Aiya! Watch where you're going, Lin Yi!"

"I'm in a rush, all right? I need to meet up for my exam!"

"Well, look forward at least aru!"

Lin Yi rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving Yao to shrug and walk toward the dormitories for a night's rest. Today was just an extremely messed up time: everyone was running around, exams were coming up, and Yao hadn't had a good night's sleep. Too much screaming for his liking. Nevermind the fact that his next door roommate is Alfred when he had a boyfriend…

He heard someone slam into the wall behind him, and he turned around to see an exhausted Kiku leaning on it, looking lost and confused like he had been chasing him this entire time. Heck, it looked like he had dashed through eternity to find him.

"Kiku? Is something wrong, aru?"

"…_onii-san."_

"W-what?" Did he just call him…?

"…_ani…"_

Yao stood there in confusion as Kiku wandered forward, tears piling in his eyes before he grabbed his sensei's waist, sobbing and squeezing as tight as he could.

"W-what's going on, Kiku?"

"…_don't…don't leave…"_

Yao had no idea what to think about any of this, but this was exactly what he had dreamed about. He just wanted to be Kiku's brother again…and it's happened. He lifted his hands and quietly hugged him, a smile crossing his lips, rubbing the smaller boy's back.

"Sensei will never leave you, dì dì."


	106. The Quiet Resolution

**/=+=/**

Li Xiao would not leave Charice's side, no matter how much she demanded it from him. He found himself waiting outside the dorm's doors, hearing Charice pacing rapidly in her living room before collapsing a few times and coming back up again. It was almost as if she had no idea what she is supposed to do anymore. This was not the Charice he remembered, not the one he fell in love with. Then again, the Charice he remembered had a living brother.

He looked up and noticed that Antonio was walking slowly toward her room, completely bandaged up and looking like he was about to fall apart. The holes that were in him from the iron maiden were slowly healing, and the color was starting to return to his skin. He barely had the energy to wave to Li Xiao, much less say hi.

"I'm surprised you're still standing. The amount of damage you obtained is enough to kill a human."

"_Well, they're just shocked I can still walk."_ He answered, looking at the door. _"How is she?"_

"Damning your existence."

"_At least she's active."_ Antonio slid down the wall. _"But I had to do it, right?"_

"Of course. If not, Rizal would have lost himself to his roots and became nothing."

"_He would've been a living Shadow."_

"Yes."

"But aren't you a Shadow as well?"

"…yes." Li Xiao nodded. "The Persona of Wang Yao, the People's Republic of China."

"Wow…I never thought a Shadow could turn into a country."

"That's the thing. Shadows of nations do not turn into nations themselves. They either turn into municipalities such as myself, or cities. I've never seen one turn into half a nation."

"So Rizal is a strange case?"

"Not strange…unique is a better term."

"But what makes you different from him?"

"Hm?"

"Why did he go insane and kill everyone, and you didn't?"

"…I don't know exactly, but if I were to venture a guess…it was timing."

"Timing?"

"My powers came up only a few decades ago. He was literally born using his powers." Li Xiao sighed. "It was either the timing in which we were made…or the upbringing that we had."

"You mean I had something to do with…what happened."

"You made Rizal, Antonio. Just as much as when Kiku made me." He slid down until they were sitting next to each other. "Both born under intense emotions, when they are unable to be held back and faked…"

"Would that mean that Arthur would have a Shadow like you?"

"If Alfred shot it out of him, then most likely. But then again, he had magical abilities so he probably dabbled in black arts to get rid of the anger." Li Xiao shrugged. "When he had me under his wing, he did love using magic."

"I see…" Antonio turned to him. "Though…it still brings up one question."

"Ask away."

"You know how Rizal ended up turning into…what he was?"

"Evil? Yeah, what about it?"

"…is that going to happen to you?"

"…yes. Yes, it will happen."

Antonio stared at him with widened eyes as Li Xiao merely turned away, staring at the window that was just a few feet away from him in the hallway. The moon was finally up in the sky, reflecting its light on the now darkened hall. He could barely hear someone snoring in one of their dormitories, and it felt weird on just how casual Li Xiao looked after saying that.

"And you're not…worried about that?"

"It's inevitable, kind of like death. No need to get scared about it." Li Xiao sighed. "And yes, that means that someone is going to have to kill me afterward."

"So…Carlos?"

"Yeah. We did meet in the other world…" He turned to Antonio. "I was trying to kill him."

"Goodness."

"That's my story. It was also how I found out that I was a Shadow."

"…goodness."

"Yeah." Li Xiao looked up. "Oh. She stopped crying."

"Eh?" Antonio turned his head. "She did. Do you think she fell asleep?"

"Maybe. Either that or she just lost enough water in her body to cry out." He stood up. "Stay out here; I'll go and see if she's all right."

Antonio didn't say anything, obeying his order and watching as the young man walked inside the room. True to what he believed, she was indeed sleeping on the bed, facing the wall and illuminated by the moonlight. Li Xiao never saw her so vulnerable before. He had seen her broken from time to time due to her political standards, but then again, Rizal was still alive. Was this how people feel when they lose their family members…?

He never felt as separated from human emotion as he did now.

Sighing, he went over and covered her with the bed's blanket, watching her shiver as the rest of the cold vanished from underneath. From the looks of things, she had never cried so hard in her life before. Then again, Yao was close to him, making sure that he never suffered more than what he had to.

"_**Never again…"**_

He turned his head.

"_**I…I don't want to be hurt again…"**_

He looked over and noticed that her left arm started shaking, almost as if she was trying to move it away. He turned his head again and was surprised.

_Was it paralyzed?_

**/=+=/**

**And now I will quietly sit back and wait for the flood of reviews.**

**Speaking of which, whatever you do, do not search for HetaQuest on Nico Nico Donga if you want to know more of the story, even if you cannot speak Japanese for your life like myself. If you want to know why, let's just say this: spoiler screenshot that brings more questions. But spoiler screenshot.**

**And by the way, you guys unlocked the True Ending, so there will be more to this story…later?**


	107. Moving Onwards to a New Day

**We're going to consider this like this is Persona FE3…which means…well…new main character…ish? With Social Links and all that good crap.**

**/=+=/**

The day after was hard on everyone. Everyone involved with the incident couldn't bring themselves to look each other in the eye anymore. Charice herself couldn't bring her voice up higher than barely a whisper. Everyone began wondering if she had a cold, and if that was to explain why Rizal had suddenly left the area. No one really knew that he was truly dead, and at the same time no one knew that he was a Shadow. No one should know that.

Alfred found himself in the middle of it all, wondering if the world really hated them this much. Each and every one of the Persona wielders haven't talked about what to do after the revelation, and the word _"Shadow"_ had become a bit of a taboo word. Out of all of them, he seemed to be the only one who would be more than willing to go back to fighting these monsters and demons if the world depended on it.

_Rizal would've wanted us to fight on. He wants us to protect what was precious to us, right?_ He looked at the stack of books that were on his table. _If…if I knew the true Rizal. Yeah, if that was really him._

He slowly gathered the books that he needed for the day and headed out of the room, accidentally bumping into someone on the way out. He turned his head to see a familiar sway of black hair walking past him. His eyes widened. There was no way it could be her. She was walking too strongly, too…normally. Especially considering that she didn't look like she had even being to recover.

"Charice?"

She stopped, but never turned around.

"Are you still all right? You haven't been out walking for a while. Hungry?" He smiled. "We can get something to eat if you want."

"I'm actually going to class right now." She said with a firm, familiar tone. "If you want to talk, we can talk later."

"You're not actually gonna go to class with baggy eyes, right? You must've cried a long time."

"I said I'm fine. See?"

She turned her head around to face Alfred and show him her face, and he could see that she had a completely normal face, without tears and without pain. But what brought up his attention were her eyes. They were firm and sharp, nothing like the large and gentle eyes that she always had. What worried him even more was that her eyes were no longer a simple brown, but instead a tender hazel, the same color as Feliciano's eyes…more gold than anything else.

Almost like…

"Do you have anything else to talk to me about?"

"Eh? Uh…no. No, I'm fine. We can talk later, though!"

"I'll be busy the entire day, however. Later?"

"Uh, sure. Later."

Alfred watched her turn around and walk away. She wasn't walking with the normal bounce that she would usually do when she walked _(almost as if she was jumping on clouds)_. Instead, she was walking like a normal person; straight, firm, unwavering. In fact, she seemed to walk as if she was in a hurry to go somewhere.

Almost like Rizal.

He followed after her, not realizing that she had vanished just as fast as her pace. Rizal always did walk like that. Alfred didn't even know where to begin looking, but as he turned his head he was able to see that Li Xiao was leaning on the wall of the building, staring at the floor as if he was deep in thought. His face looked a bit swollen, but he couldn't really tell from afar.

"Li Xiao?"

"Eh?" He looked up. "Oh…Alfred."

"What's wrong with you? Have you seen Charice around lately?"

"Um…" He turned his head away, tapping his cheek. It was as if she was now a taboo word as well.

"Hey…Li Xiao…" He leaned on the wall next to him. "Don't tell me that…"

"She broke up with me."

"What?" Alfred jumped off of the wall. _**"How?! Why?! **_You two were all oh-so lovey-dovey and you didn't even start going down that downward spiral that all breakups go down through!"

"She hasn't really been the same ever since Rizal died. I wouldn't be surprised if she blames me for letting him die."

"How? Antonio was the one who killed him, and he was crying when he was doing it!" Alfred blinked. "And they had gotten so close together, too…!"

"No…no, that's not the problem…" Li Xiao looked down, looking a bit traumatized.

"Li Xiao? What's wrong…?"

"…you know how the Shadow of a nation is supposed to represent the true form and mindset of the nation in question?"

"Uh…yeah, that's about right."

"Your Shadow is basically the second half of you. Both of you were the same nation and you were the one who won out, turning the other one into the Shadow." Li Xiao sighed. "Charice and Rizal are the same thing. They aren't the same person, but they're the same nation, am I right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the problem is…we were thinking about it wrong."

"Huh?"

"They were the same person."

"!"

"Remember what Charice's world revealed. That he had been created when she had shed enough blood." Li Xiao looked up to the sky, probably thinking about his own birth. "If a Shadow represents the true self of a nation, and that said person was cynical, realistic and antagonistic toward his creator…"

Alfred's eyes widened even more. His mind immediately thought of the woman that he had been friends with for so long. Her crazy smile, the large eyes, the optimistic attitude, the ability to reach out to other people and protect them, to make sure that they were alright at the expense of her own well being sometimes…wasn't she the one who had led the fight against all of the Shadows that had happened…?

"The Charice that we knew…the Charice I fell in love with…either was a façade or didn't exist…" Li Xiao turned his head to Alfred. "It was Rizal. Rizal was the true Philippines the entire time. He was the real Charice."

**/=+=/**

Alfred never told that revelation to anyone else. It didn't feel like something that would be in his best interest to. What could you do? Tell them that Charice had never existed and that it was just a mask because her true personality is basically Rizal? Why in the world would he break all of them now? It was something he couldn't bring himself to even accept. Or maybe Li Xiao was wrong about this? He would have to be. There is no way that this much time would've meant nothing on their separation…

"Al? What's wrong?"

"Huh?" He looked up. "Oh…Yao."

"You've been quiet for a while. And I mean quiet as in more than usual, aru." He sat down next to him. "Is something wrong?"

"Sort of." He looked to him. "I'm worried about Charice."

"I see…I've been worrying about Li Xiao in the meantime." Yao turned away. "Ever since the breakup, he's been moving farther away from everyone."

"How so?"

"He's been getting quieter, aru. I mean, more than usual. He doesn't talk to anyone, he doesn't even study in class…I'm worried, aru! He doesn't even make fun of me and my cheap utensils anymore!"

"…yeah, that does sound like a huge problem."

"I know, aru! But I don't know how to interact with him!" Yao turned to Alfred. "You've been talking to him a lot; being friends with him. I want you to help me figure out what to do!"

"Hey, it's a recent breakup. Sometimes you have to give a man some room."

"I know…but does a breakup as horrible as this makes him not even eating?"

"Wait, he's not even eating?"

"No…he's getting thinner recently…I'm really worried, aru."

"Oh god…" Alfred turned to Yao. "Hey, how about this? We should go and talk to him directly. He may be suffering from depression."

"Depression, aru?"

"Yeah. This breakup really got to him, so we should at the very least get him to move his legs and talk to other people. That way he can slowly get out of it." He smiled warmly. "Come on, Yao. Where is he now?"

"Um…I don't know. I was actually looking for him when I saw you, aru."

"All right. We should go looking for him."

**/=+=/**

Alfred had no idea where to even begin looking for him. No one seemed to have seen him in the recent area, and a few of them didn't even know where to begin looking. He was nowhere in the building, and for the most part he didn't even show up for classes. It was as if Li Xiao had completely jumped off the map. It started making Alfred more worried than usual. A break up like this shouldn't have made Li Xiao that depressed, even if this is his first breakup.

"Al? What's up?"

"Eh?" He turned around. "Antonio. Yo. Have you seen Li Xiao around recently?"

"Li? No, I haven't. Sorry." He had that usual smile on him. It only looked half fake. "Why? What's wrong?"

"No one seems to know where to look for him. Yao's been looking for him for a long time. He hasn't even shown up for class, as far as I heard."

"Class?" It was then that he realized that Antonio's face was getting a bit pale, but was properly hidden. "Oh…maybe I should go help look for him."

"Can you? Thanks. We already searched inside the building, so we're about to head out."

"All right. I'll go check the right side."

"Yeah. Call me if you find something."

"Si."

Antonio and Alfred ran their separate ways, with Alfred heading straight into the woods and park. He didn't know why, but he was wondering why Antonio was looking so worried. What was wrong with him? Did he know something that he didn't? He kind of wished that he had the time to go ask him what he was so worried about. But it didn't matter at the moment. He was probably worried about something else. As he kept running, he found Yao looking around the area as well.

"Hey! Did you find something?"

"Not much, aru." He turned to him, holding a small pin. "I think this is Li's. I remember that had gotten a gift from her a while back."

"That means that he has to be nearby, right."

"I hope so…"

"All right, let's go look."

The two of them kept searching around the area until they finally got to the lake. It was then that Alfred finally found a familiar figure standing at the edge of the lake. Alfred was about to go ahead and greet him when he realized that he was acting very strange. He figured that Li Xiao was just moping at the lake, thinking about his relationship and the revelation that he had told him. But he wasn't moping. He wasn't even crying. He was just standing there, dead-eyed, staring back at the lake as if nothing was happening. It was then that he realized that his reflection looked weird…

"Li Xiao! There you are, aru! We were looking for you!"

Alfred turned his head and noticed that Yao was finally coming out of the woods, finding the young man that they were looking for. He didn't seem to notice that anything was wrong with him. To Yao, all he saw was a former colony staring at a lake probably worrying about a breakup that was really horrible. It was then that he saw the full image of Li Xiao's reflection.

"China, _**move!"**_

"Eh?"

***SHANK***

China had no idea what happened. He had shielded his eyes away in a desperate attempt to block the attack that never came. He slowly opened his eyes to see that America had jumped right in front of him, a strange black spear going right through his back, eyes widened as if he wasn't expecting this to be as deep as he wanted. His arms lowered, lip quivering in confusion, before his knees buckled and he dropped to the ground. At the same time, the spear pulled out of Alfred's torso, and his body plopped onto the ground.

"…L-Li…?"

He had no idea what the figure in front of him was. From the majority of the image, it was definitely Li, with his familiar hairstyle and the long sleeves of his uniform formatted so that it looked more Asian. However, things were off about it. Disregarding the black spear that seemed to be protruding from a black aura around him, his skin looked more barren and gray, almost as if he was looking at a corpse. His head lifted upward, and they made eye contact. Yao's eyes widened in fear.

They weren't the simple hazel that Li Xiao always had.

It was gold.

"So the Shadow finally demorphed into its true form."

Yao turned his head in confusion to see Charice standing there, holding a spear in her hand- wait, when did Charice ever had a spear? When did Li Xiao had any of this aura thing? Is Alfred dead? What should he do? Should he get out of there? Call to Li Xiao? Call to Charice? Were they about to fight? What in the world is going on?

"Stay back, China." She walked in front of him with calmness, not even looking at Alfred's body. "You get in the way and you get the same fate as he did."

"Philia…" He looked at Li Xiao. "W-what's going on, aru…?"

"…he's a monster. He always was. And he just woke up." She aimed her spear to his face. "It's my job to put him to sleep."

**/=+=/**

**Ah, it feels so good to get out of the hiatus. You know what this needs? Another two year hiatus~**

**No no, of course not. I'll try and update now that I got this out of the way. Or at the very least get some good stuff out of the way.**


End file.
